Playing with Perspectives

[UnbornTao]

Quote

All philosophies are mental fabrications. There has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things.

― Avatamsaka Sutra

Is your experience of things the same as what things themselves are?

Edited February 1 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

[UnbornTao]

You might say "everything is an invention." Two possible dispositions to approaching that:

1. "Fuck it, nothing matters" (and as a result engage in bad quality creation), or;
2. "Okay, let's make sure the things I construct are functional, effective, healthy"

Edited January 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

Edited December 5, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Learn to make new, finer distinctions within your experience of aromas and the sense of smell.

Use the following documents to learn about learning, and to understand and apply principles such as correction and feedback into your life:

1. fragrance-analysis - Unknown.docx
2. fragrance-terminology - Unknown.docx

Edited January 27 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

What would it take for you to generate your own feedback?

Something that comes to mind is becoming increasingly aware of your thinking and acting throughout any given process or activity. Where are you putting your attention? What are you doing for real? What does the process demand of you that you aren't currently seeing? What could you do with more skill, gracefully? 

Increase your conscious sensitivity, which requires being openly aware of every aspect of your experience, starting with your body, and your mind's activities.

Edited January 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

 

[UnbornTao]

 

 

[UnbornTao]

Quote

The meaning of life consists in the fact that it makes no sense to say that life has no meaning

- Niels Bohr

One reason a depressive-nihilistic stance toward life might be adopted is to justify one’s lack of action. What motivates you to think this way is a bias toward what is agreeable and comfortable for you; it is not inflicted upon you by circumstances or the world. Why do something when it is far more convenient to undermine the reasoning behind any effort in the first place--except, of course, for your own undermining?

You may hope or set out to find a reason, motive, or inherent meaning that moves you to action, believing these to be discoverable somewhere, as if hidden under rocks. In doing so, what you may have actually decided is to remain complacent, pursuing immediate gratification--which, coincidentally, is not dismissed as readily as other pursuits--while avoiding any form of confrontation or labor. This negative viewpoint keeps you comfortable, as it does not challenge your unconsciousness, passivity, or defeatist attitude. Yet, this mindset is still based on your self-agenda and "selfish" behavior. Ask yourself why you choose to adopt it--if, indeed, you do.

Realizing that you are the source of this behavior is the first step to ending it. If acting depressed is something you do, you can stop generating it. Doing so requires becoming aware of the root of the acting itself. Also, recognize that you want to experience it. Since it occurs within your experience, it serves a purpose for you, albeit an unconscious one. Imagining a hopeless future is its essential component. To change that, create an image of a positive future for yourself--or stop imagining the possibility of a future altogether.

What is harder to notice about this disposition is that non-meaning cannot be negative. If you hear it as negative, you are still operating within the same paradigm. Just so, meaning, as a complementary process, implies that the existence of something precedes it--it is added after the fact. It does not mean anything that it does not mean anything!

Obviously, creating something requires being responsible for actualizing it. It could be said that life is a blank slate on which you can build any meaning you choose. As with play, the main reason behind your actions could simply be the enjoyment of the process for its own sake--playing the game mindfully, with sensitivity and awareness. This, by the way, is not to say that inventions should be dismissed; they can undoubtedly provide value. So by all means, produce functional things, whatever function they are meant to serve.

Given that a game is ultimately played for its own sake, it is not held as something that will bring about an idealized sense of personal fulfillment. This allows us to delve into it freely. Existence itself might ultimately be meaningless, as with any creation. The point is to play the game wholeheartedly, master it, and, when all is said and done, put the pieces back in the box. Otherwise, you might as well enjoy your actively depressive stance--since, after all, it is meaningful to you.

Quote

Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box

Edited January 29 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

On 9/10/2024 at 2:34 PM, UnbornTao said:

One thing is what you "say" (think, believe, intellectualize, speak about), and another is what you actually experience and live as. Notice the discrepancies between these two.

"What we have opened up so far in this experiment is an opportunity to get clear that most of us are not clear where our experience of the world, of others, and of ourselves in the world is actually happening. 

In other words, we often encounter life through some theory or belief, rather than encountering life as we actually live it. As a result, we attempt to comprehend or understand life as it is encountered through these theories or beliefs, rather than comprehending life as it is actually lived. And as a consequence, we interact with life (the world, others, and ourselves) from these theories or beliefs, rather than interacting with life as it is actually lived. 

A master encounters life as it is lived, and as a consequence deals with life as it is lived, rather than dealing with life through the filter of some theory or belief.

It is not that a master has not theories or beliefs, rather a master holds his or her theories, beliefs, knowledge, and experience so to speak above himself or herself so that it doesn't act as a filter, but illuminates what is encountered."

--Werner Erhard and others

Edited December 14, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

What is a tree?

[UnbornTao]

On 10/14/2024 at 5:07 PM, UnbornTao said:

Tiramisú recipe

 

 

[UnbornTao]

On 10/14/2024 at 5:17 PM, UnbornTao said:

 

 

 

 

What am I doing?

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/UnbornTao/saved/x7sRFT

I ended up getting myself a pre-built like a coward.  

Saved me quite some time, though (in the short term at least).

Edited December 12, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

What do you get out of excuses and justifications? Why does one engage in this behavior? What are the consequences?

[UnbornTao]

Marketing

 

 

[UnbornTao]

 

[UnbornTao]

Want to make this at some point: 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Wikipedia entry on Self-pity

At times, self-pity may be valid and useful, although more often than not, it is disempowering. It can prevent one from paying attention to, becoming responsible for, and consequently correcting their actions and their resulting consequences. This emotion can easily turn into a self-oriented, victimized disposition, whereas becoming objective and dispassionate would be a more appropriate response.

Edited December 28, 2024 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

From Reddit.