Zigzag Idiot and the ladder of Objective Reason

[Zigzag Idiot]

Having discipline means the willingness to suffer intentionally towards a fruitful aim and if we all work together, God doesn’t have to puff and moan as much.

[Zigzag Idiot]

@Stovo said - 

Men have lower life expectancy, take more risks, have to work harder to get a sexual partner, have pressure to succeed, and so on. 

You could look at either being male or being female as being negative if you want to be negative. 

My post may have been low quality but his wasn’t. 
I’m referring to the thread that just got locked on the forum. 
I get it though and I appreciate the moderators for what they do. I feel having some sense of humor is important though.
Just sayin,,,

Its the end of patriarchy as we know it so things should get somewhat better for women in this next 2000 year cycle. That’s probably not much consolation though if big changes are 100 - 200 years into the future.

[Zigzag Idiot]

I got this yesterday about midday by rolling 6 consecutive 8 (- -) yin lines. This means that the 3 pennies I used came up 2 heads and 1 tail six times in a row. Don’t think I’ve ever done that before. This means I got only one hexagram- Hexagram 2 ; NATURE

Here is a part of what it said-

To me this says a lot about how corrosive guilt is in the life of a human Being. In how guilt divides people against themselves which puts us out of alignment with our own inner truth or conscience. The result of this is addressing life’s issues with just one’s intellect, dried out and devoid of feeling and appropriate use of our heart or feeling center because by staying stuck in our head full of ongoing internal dialogue, there is no inner quiet. With no inner quiet we can’t broadcast properly because our receiver has too much noise in it. An example of not broadcasting properly is projection of what we think onto others which means we don’t even give them a chance to communicate their unique inner truth which contributes to the unique inner truth of others.

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

Castaneda

 
There is no completeness without sadness and longing, for without them there is no sobriety, no kindness. Wisdom without kindness and knowledge without sobriety are useless.
      
      Seeing is a peculiar feeling of knowing, of knowing something without a shadow of doubt.
      
      Self-importance is our greatest enemy. Think about it--what weakens us is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of our fellow men. Our self-importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone.
      Every effort should be made to eradicate self-importance from the lives of warriors. Without self-importance we are invulnerable.
     

* * *

      Self-importance can't be fought with niceties.
     

* * *

      Seers are divided into two categories. Those who are willing to exercise self-restraint and can channel their activities toward pragmatic goals, which would benefit other seers and man in general, and those who don't care about self-restraint or about any pragmatic goals. The latter have failed to resolve the problem of self-importance.
      Self-importance is not something simple and naive. On the one hand, it is the core of everything that is good in us, and on the other hand, the core of everything that is rotten. To get rid of the self-importance that is rotten requires a masterpiece of strategy.

Almaas

Global Disidentification

The capacity for global disidentification allows us to be permanently in touch with our essential presence, although the identity and the self-representation remains in experience. This condition allows the experience of self-realization to arise, at least occasionally, when the identity relaxes to the extent of total absorption by (or into) essential presence. The more this capacity for global disidentification develops, the more frequent, and the deeper, are the experiences of self-realization. This development continues, in principle, until permanent, full self-realization, where total global disidentification coincides with complete absorption of the self-representation, and complete openness and flexibility of identity. Complete flexibility of identity raises the phenomenon of disidentification to a new level, beyond the normal egoic experience. This flexibility involves the dissolution of self-identity, or more accurately, the cessation of the activity of identifying. This condition, which occurs in isolated experiences of self-realization but is the permanent condition of full self-realization (enlightenment), is what is referred to by some traditions as “ego death” or “the death of the self.” In this state of complete annihilation of identity, one does not have identity in the usual sense; our identity is now with the presence of Being. In other words, our identity has shifted from the self-representation to Being.

The Point of Existence, pg. 129

[Zigzag Idiot]

  It Comes From Outer Space
by Dr. Jim Rosen
©2021 Dr. Jim Rosen
 

    The world is certainly not the same place I grew up in.  The world is changing.  It’s becoming more and more stressful, more pressure filled, more ill tempered, at times quite vicious.  There are more of these kinds of outside influences on us than ever before.  Not necessarily from the stars and planets, but definitely from out there in our world - our space.  Fears, angers and frustrations are upon us.  Money pressures, including an abundance of greed.  Pressures to achieve.  Pressures to acquire things.  Attacks on our safety and our perceptions of security.

    These outside influences are upon all of us.  However, some people are more affected by them than others are.  Some people allow the outer pressures to penetrate their lives more than others do.  Some allow other people and outside influences to crash through their personal boundaries.  Some people even lay their boundaries down and invite the chaos into their lives.

    All of this makes right now an important time to reassess your boundaries.  More than ever before, and especially because you have so little control over what happens out there, you have to exercise more control over your choices.  What to let in and what not to let in?  You have the responsibility to decide what and who you allow into your home, your personal space and your being.  And then assert yourself.  If you haven’t learned how to be assertive, seek out the teaching that you need.

[Zigzag Idiot]

Wisdom given to me years ago from a friend.

i said i was infatuated with her. She made a solemn face and said, “That doesn’t last and it’s trouble.”

A few days later i said i had fallen in love with her. She replied, “Yeah, whatever,,,,,,, I think that what you call love, though, is directed at what you think I am or maybe would wish me to be.

A month or so passed. I looked into her eyes and said, “I Love You”

She looked into my eyes and said, “It feels wonderful to be Loved”

She taught me through example to never coherse an - ‘i love you too’ out of anyone.
 

 

 

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Zigzag Idiot
I left out one of her most profound statements

[Zigzag Idiot]

This email showed up today I went ahead and registered. It’s free,,,,

Dear David,

The experience of nondual awareness can give us the sense that we are one with everything.

Settling into this awareness, our familiar conceptual boundaries around self, other, and world dissolve into an unbounded unity.

Since this often ushers in positive states, like peacefulness or belonging, many people strive for nondual experiences in their spiritual practice, and many spiritual teachers try to elicit them.

Modern nondual teachings owe much to the Indian tradition of nonduality known as Advaita Vedanta, and this Saturday at 10am Pacific, A. H. Almaas, the founder of the Diamond Approach, will be offering a free lecture about some of the most widely known Vedantic teachings of our time, situating them in their Indian origins.

He is aiming to help those interested in this tradition understand what the classical Vedantic teaching requires from students—something not often emphasized by Western teachers of nonduality.

Register for 

'Advaita Vedanta: Western Expressions'

The lecture will last approximately 75 minutes, and will be followed by a question and comment period.

This lecture is the fourth in a six-part series Almaas is giving this year, in which he is delving into some often-overlooked nuances in the works of some of the world’s highly regarded spiritual teachers and traditions.

Read more about the full 2021 A.H. Almaas Lecture Series here and join us for his upcoming talk on Advaita Vedanta.

I clicked on the link given which the contained the following -

The Ridhwan Foundation, the home of the Diamond Approach teaching, is pleased to be offering the 2021 A. H. Almaas Lecture Series for free thanks to the generosity of a donor. All are welcome to attend at no charge.*  

We look forward to seeing you at the lecture! 

The Ridhwan Foundation

P.S. After Saturday's lecture, we will be sharing a recording and handout with everyone who has registered. Even if you can’t attend live, registering will ensure you receive access to these resources.

Advaita Vedanta: Western Expressions

Date/Time: September 18, 10am-12:00pm Pacific

Find your local time

The first texts of Advaita Vedanta, a nondual teaching of Hinduism, date to 500 CE. Through the ages, it has remained a powerful force in India. The great 20th-century teacher Ramana Maharshi employed Vedantic methods of inquiry into the nature of the self. His spiritual path centered on the question, “Who am I?”

Many streams of Advaita Vedanta came to the west from India. The teachings of Ramakrishna were brought to the west by Vivekananda. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi brought another lineage of both Vedanta and Advaita Vedanta westward. Some nondual teachers in the west trace their teachings back to Atmananda and his direct path. This transplanting of Indian spirituality onto new soil has led some people to wonder if something has been lost, or misconstrued, along the way.

In this lecture, Almaas will explore some of the most widely known Vedantic teachings of our times and situate them within their Indian origins, to help those interested in the rich tradition of Advaita Vedanta to understand what the classical teaching requires from students—something that is not often emphasized by Western teachers of nonduality.

The lecture will last approximately 75 minutes followed by a question and comment period.

For those who may be interested this link should work which I just gathered from the Diamond Approach website.

https://online.diamondapproach.org/a-h-almaas-lecture-series-or-ahls-wi21/

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

Negative Merging

https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/negative-merging

There are some good excerpts here about negative merging. This phrase is used referring to the bond between mother and infant during the symbiotic phase. This phenomena can greatly affect a person throughout their life in interfering with the development of trust and having confidence.

For those who find it of interest you may also like the excerpts about basic trust-

https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/basic-trust
 

[Zigzag Idiot]

I found this pretty interesting.  She discusses emotional purification in a round about way. The effects of low consciousness, negativity, etc.,, on the subtle body,,,,

I really resonated with her statement that healing comes through understanding,,,

[Zigzag Idiot]

,,,,,,Whoever is calm and sensible is insane

 

You that come to birth and bring the mysteries
your voice-thunder makes us very happy

Roar, lion of the heart
and tear me open

I would love to kiss you

The price of kissing is your life

Now my loving is running toward my life shouting

What a bargain, let's buy it,,,,

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

Funny,,,, 

Yesterday in @mandyjw’s Journal I used Martin Butlers admission about being somewhat uncomfortable in front of the camera as reasoning for me not to push my comfort zone. Particularly in relation to expressing myself on video. 
Today, after 3 years of doing his podcast, he appears in front of the camera. Ha!
Am I going to reverse my decision about letting myself off the hook for not working at being a good public speaker? ,,,, Not right now. It will be my decision and not connected with whatever Martin Butler does even though I have some respect for his perspectives.

[Zigzag Idiot]

ACIM Review

I’m thinking of organizing a reading or review (however you want to call it)  for A Course In Miracles. This idea was suggested to me a while back from an Actualized.org member.  I’ll create a journal specifically for it here in this section assuming it’s ok with @Leo Gura It’ll be set for a year schedule. I won’t be doing the workbook lessons but for those who want to join and read along, I recommend the workbook lessons for those who have never done the course. Either way it’s up to each individual to decide for themselves. Participation will be voluntary. Those who want to follow along silently are welcome to do so.

Announcing this was spontaneous. I just wanted to give a heads up,  throw out a rough guideline,  and gauge interest. I welcome questions and suggestions,,,, 

https://acim.org/acim/en

[Zigzag Idiot]

Before the age of the internet and I was still a drinker of alcohol, life was hell and suffering.  The radio stations that I listened to would play their golden oldies show with old ‘what’s his name’ on the weekend. He would talk about how things were groovy. It greatly diminished my estimation of that 1/2 to 1 generation older than me and caused me to perceive them as simple minded which produced a subtle form of boomerang guilt. 
Of the two or three radio stations that I listened to, invariably the one that played the golden oldies show would come through on Saturday and then the same phenomena would occur on Sunday. This always compounded the suffering and confusion which accompanied my hangovers. It made me want to claw my eyes out. This was before I had an appreciation for silence and always had to have the radio going so I could dissociate, at least to a small degree, from reality. Below is a sample of the songs that were played. 

 

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

MINDFULNESS 

Deliberateness is a good word to remember. Or maybe two words - Being deliberate.

I read an article about mindfulness years ago in which the advice given was to go about whatever you do in a deliberate way. It really struck a chord with me. Now, years later I can call on that word and my inner world will shift if it needs to. To slow down, to let go of neurotic thought and go about whatever I’m doing in a deliberate way.

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

If the Cause is Still There...
by Dr. Jim Rosen
©2021 Dr. Jim Rosen
 

    Can you get rid of depression if you don’t remove the cause?  There are five major causes of depression, and they are these: #1 is the experience of loss and life change, because you have to say goodbye and let go of the person or lifestyle that is no longer available.  #2 is when you have unmet emotional needs.  This unfulfilled piece of you generates feelings of hopelessness, and this makes depression.  #3 is when you look inside and you see an unacceptable part of yourself.  This makes pressure to bury that part, to repress it, to put the lid on it.  Repression causes depression, because it robs you of your ability to be a whole person.  #4 is the "impossible dream."  When you try to acquire your self-worth from other people, it’s an impossible task.  It is a never-ending attempt to win love and approval from something outside yourself.  It causes frequent disappointments and giving-up, and this points straight to depression.  #5 is the lack of purpose, meaning or direction in your life.  When you are not striving toward something personally meaningful, your life becomes empty and you get depressed.

    These are the five major causes of depression.  All the drugs in the world will not remove the causes of your depression.  You need real psychotherapy that addresses the real causes.  Then your prognosis for overcoming depression is remarkably good.

[LastThursday]

@Zigzag Idiot it's surprising to get such a good concise list of the causes of depression. These are universal human worries. I would only add one more: persistent physical bodily discomfort or disease. I would say that most shadow work and actualisation is all about working on these five points.

[Zigzag Idiot]

@LastThursday  I'm sure Dr. Jim would be glad to hear this kind of feedback.

By the way, if anyone is wanting to seek therapy from him, I'll pass along his Phone number or email but only if I get his permission. He lives near Hot Springs Arkansas but does counseling over the phone now. Especially since the COVID epidemic began.

[Zigzag Idiot]

The Teachings of Don Juan

A man of knowledge is one who has followed truthfully the hardships of learning, a man who has, without rushing or without faltering, gone as far as he can in unravelling the secrets of power and knowledge. To become a man of knowledge one must challenge and defeat his four natural enemies.
      When a man starts to learn, he is never clear about his objectives. His purpose is faulty; his intent is vague. He hopes for rewards that will never materialize for he knows nothing of the hardships of learning.
      He slowly begins to learn--bit by bit at first, then in big chunks. And his thoughts soon clash. What he learns is never what he pictured, or imagined, and so he begins to be afraid. Learning is never what one expects. Every step of learning is a new task, and the fear the man is experiencing begins to mount mercilessly, unyieldingly. His purpose becomes a battlefield.
      And thus he has stumbled upon the first of his natural enemies: fear! A terrible enemy--treacherous, and difficult to overcome. It remains concealed at every turn of the way, prowling, waiting. And if the man, terrified in its presence, runs away, his enemy will have put an end to his quest and he will never learn. He will never become a man of knowledge. He will perhaps be a bully, or a harmless, scared man; at any rate, he will be a defeated man. His first enemy will have put an end to his cravings.
      It is not possible for a man to abandon himself to fear for years, then finally conquer it. If he gives in to fear he will never conquer it, because he will shy away from learning and never try again. But if he tries to learn for years in the midst of his fear, he will eventually conquer it because he will never have really abandoned himself to it.
      Therefore he must not run away. He must defy his fear, and in spite of it he must take the next step in learning, and the next, and the next. He must be fully afraid, and yet he must not stop. That is the rule! And a moment will come when his first enemy retreats. The man begins to feel sure of himself. His intent becomes stronger. Learning is no longer a terrifying task.
      When this joyful moment comes, the man can say without hesitation that he has defeated his first natural enemy. It happens little by little, and yet the fear is vanquished suddenly and fast. Once a man has vanquished fear, he is free from it for the rest of his life because, instead of fear, he has acquired clarity--a clarity of mind which erases fear. By then a man knows his desires; he knows how to satisfy those desires. He can anticipate the new steps of learning and a sharp clarity surrounds everything. The man feels that nothing is concealed.
      And thus he has encountered his second enemy: Clarity! That clarity of mind, which is so hard to obtain, dispels fear, but also blinds. It forces the man never to doubt himself. It gives him the assurance he can do anything he pleases, for he sees clearly into everything. And he is courageous because he is clear, and he stops at nothing because he is clear. But all that is a mistake; it is like something incomplete. If the man yields to this make-believe power, he has succumbed to his second enemy and will be patient when he should rush. And he will fumble with learning until he winds up incapable of learning anything more. His second enemy has just stopped him cold from trying to become a man of knowledge. Instead, the man may turn into a buoyant warrior, or a clown. Yet the clarity for which he has paid so dearly will never change to darkness and fear again. He will be clear as long as he lives, but he will no longer learn, or yearn for, anything.

    He must do what he did with fear: he must defy his clarity and use it only to see, and wait patiently and measure carefully before taking new steps; he must think, above all, that his clarity is almost a mistake. And a moment will come when he will understand that his clarity was only a point before his eyes. And thus he will have overcome his second enemy, and will arrive at a position where nothing can harm him anymore. This will not be a mistake. It will not be only a point before his eyes. It will be true power.
      He will know at this point that the power he has been pursuing for so long is finally his. He can do with it whatever he pleases. His ally is at his command. His wish is the rule. He sees all that is around him. But he has also come across his third enemy: Power!
      Power is the strongest of all enemies. And naturally the easiest thing to do is to give in; after all, the man is truly invincible. He commands; he begins by taking calculated risks, and ends in making rules, because he is a master.
      A man at this stage hardly notices his third enemy closing in on him. And suddenly, without knowing, he will certainly have lost the battle. His enemy will have turned him into a cruel, capricious man, but he will never lose his clarity or his power.
      A man who is defeated by power dies without really knowing how to handle it. Power is only a burden upon his fate. Such a man has no command over himself, and cannot tell when or how to use his power.
      Once one of these enemies overpowers a man there is nothing he can do. It is not possible, for instance, that a man who is defeated by power may see his error and mend his ways. Once a man gives in he is through. If, however, he is temporarily blinded by power, and then refuses it, his battle is still on. That means he is still trying to become a man of knowledge. A man is defeated only when he no longer tries, and abandons himself.
      He has to come to realize that the power he has seemingly conquered is in reality never his. He must keep himself in line at all times, handling carefully and faithfully all that he has learned. If he can see that clarity and power, without his control over himself, are worse than mistakes, he will reach a point where everything is held in check. He will know then when and how to use his power. And thus he will have defeated his third enemy.
      The man will be, by then, at the end of his journey of learning, and almost without warning he will come upon the last of his enemies: Old age! This enemy is the cruelest of all, the one he won't be able to defeat completely, but only fight away.
      This is the time when a man has no more fears, no more impatient clarity of mind--a time when all his power is in check, but also the time when he has an unyielding desire to rest. If he gives in totally to his desire to lie down and forget, if he soothes himself in tiredness, he will have lost his last round, and his enemy will cut him down into a feeble old creature. His desire to retreat will overrule all his clarity, his power, and his knowledge.
      But if the man sloughs off his tiredness, and lives his fate though, he can then be called a man of knowledge, if only for the brief moment when he succeeds in fighting off his last, invincible enemy. That moment of clarity, power, and knowledge is enough.

 

   Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary.
      This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.
     
      Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.
      I have told you that to choose a path you must be free from fear and ambition. The desire to learn is not ambition. It is our lot as men to want to know.
      The path without a heart will turn against men and destroy them. It does not take much to die, and to seek death is to seek nothing.

 

  For me there is only the traveling on the paths that have a heart, on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length. And there I travel--looking, looking, breathlessly.

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

  You're Angry Back
by Dr. Jim Rosen
©2021 Dr. Jim Rosen
 

    If I get angry, and you get angry back, you have just released me from my responsibilities in the conflict.  That's the way the human psyche is wired.  Because you reacted and got angry too, I'm off the hook.  Now I don't have to face myself in the mirror and look at my problems.  You're the one who reacted last, so your image is the one in that psychological mirror.  I can't possibly feel responsible when I can't see myself there.  But if I get angry and you don't, now I'm stuck.  Now I have to look at myself, because it's only my image in the mirror.  Again, that's the way the human mind is wired to respond.  So if you want me to take responsibility for my own stuff, let me get angry while you stay calm and collected.  Don't let my anger push your buttons.  But if you do get angry on the inside, don't get angry back.  In other words, don't show your anger - give the appearance of calm on the outside - walk away and calmly think about it.  That way I still see myself in the mirror.

[Zigzag Idiot]

Tough times

I've been through some rough patches in the span of my life leading up to now. Luckily the past 10-15 years hasn't had the ups and down that prevailed especially in my twenties. In 2005 at age 38, it felt truly like a 'dark night of the Soul' kind of experience. At the time I ordered Dark Night Of The Soul by Saint John of the Cross. I got more solace though from Teresa of Avila's Work - Interior Castle. A few months after this dark night episode I experienced another rather bizarre phenomena. One morning while doing some tractor work I began bursting into tears with a ridiculous frequency. These crying episodes stopped almost as quickly as they began.  Like 2 or 3 times a minute. This went on for nearly four hours. I haven't experienced anything like it before or since. 

I felt a need to communicate this. Almost a responsibility because I know there are those in this community who may experience extreme emotional turmoil at times. It may show up as a long lasting, chronic, deep depression which I experienced in my early twenties. Or maybe a grinding pressure of existential angst which has cropped up in my life on a few occasions. Sometimes with the flavor of what Stan and Christina Grof described as a spiritual emergency or perhaps what some would refer to as being a part of a kundalini awakening,  Maybe this admission of fragility of my historical emotional existence might help someone who needs a little hope that. as the saying goes,  - This too shall pass. There are times when this may seem like an impossibility.

i should have written more here and elaborated some but maybe another time....

http://www.biologyofkundalini.com/  = Good resource