Oh I wanted to add that I think I shouldn't hold other people at fault. I should forgive all. They are operating on outdated software based a survival mindset, subliminal messaging, our education system, our social norms, our laws which we all thought were separate and good became a web. Most of the things that occur I believe occur for two reasons greed, and fear of the unknown. A society taught to learn, but not taught to question.
"Any world that I'm welcome to... is better than the one... I come from." -Any World (That I'm Welcome To), Steely Dan (1975).
"Up on the hill, they think I'm okay. Or so they say." -Aja, Steely Dan (1977).
"I am barred from the event. I really don't understand the situation. But it's no game." -It's No Game (Part 1), David Bowie (1980).
-=-
OK, watch out! I'm on a roll here...
Worlds adjacent to worlds. Worlds within worlds. Worlds colliding... toes being stepped on, by accident or otherwise...
I've learned the hard way that being invited or uninvited by others are signals that need to be discerned & respected. Flooding a zone without permission, nor w/ any intention of asking for forgiveness afterwards, is most times a foolish errand in the long run, where consensuality is concerned.
I have an extremely addictive personality, so I've learned over the years that any substance - from aspirin, oxygen to H2O - can & will be harmfully addictive - if I let it happen that way. The opposite holds true: deprivation of the same substance can lead to suffering, at the very least.
Addictions to substances are friends (or fiends) that never say no. And it always amazes me how I will impart a sense of agency to substances.
Obviously, some addictions are rightfully desired, such as oxygen, given the circumstances & conditions one wants to work with, while others are not always useful or sufficient, let alone necessary.
As a sidebar, I don't always 100% trust the medical & naturopathic professions w/ their recommendations, esp. w/ substances & services that can have side effects, or no positive effects at all. This can turn out to be worse than the condition or conditions that I initially sought mitigations against.
Been there, done that. I found that out, as I did more research than the professionals did themselves, concerning the substances or services involved.
Standards of care & duty. Time pressures. The need to update one's knowledge. The lack of future discoveries. I get it. And I got it. And no class action lawsuit will return what was lost.
-=-
I've been feeling a wee bit under the weather for a while now, so this post should be taken w/ a heavy dose of salt. And then plenty of water! This is because I dissociate readily when I'm not feeling well.
Disclaimer: By no means am I anyone at all but an aspirant concerning these matters. I rather doubt that I've obtained these idealistic goals very often over my lifetime.
But I do remind myself that letting go of "any thing" is factually impossible in the phenomenal world, because of the natures of the five skandhas (i.e. form, feeling, perception, mental formations & consciousness). In the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition the skandhas are already null & void. Empty of any inherent, independent existence.
In other words, they're already disappearing as soon as they arise. So, when I find that I'm chasing some dragon, I then turn inward & attempt a direct realization of that fact, thereby concluding that the dragon in question is already out of reach, and will remain that way.
Therefore, it's always a matter of returning & resting within the original, luminous, primordial awareness that we all have as a birthright...
Lately & sometimes, when I'm heading for the porcelain god, I almost don't make it. Sometimes I just lay in bed, and let the feelings of suffering & pain wash over me.
Alka Seltzer. Caffeine. And Visine. All that jazz.
I've experienced encounter groups, as an assistant & as a patron. I've experienced group therapy, individual therapy, and what could be defined by some as cult-like collaborations...
The etymology of the word 'culture' is derived from the Latin colere ("to till, cultivate, tend") & cultura ("a cultivating, agriculture, care").
So, at the root of this definition, whether I like it or not, I'm frequently in a cult of one: myself. Sometimes, two: I & I. Sometimes, I & Thou.
I usually prefer smaller group gatherings in these contexts - as a general rule - such as sanghas, because when there is a bustle of activity, the overwhelming nature of all the chatter & noise in larger group settings might lead me to the nearest exit, to find some fresh air in solitude & silence.
Sometimes I leave w/ a partner, or few others...
So over time, in some group formats, once something obviously smacks of undue influence, I end up leaving.
Sometimes I go back, regardless. Sometimes there's someone there that I can maintain a connection with, and that alone draws me back in. And sometimes such a connection persists outside of the original group setting altogether.
This also holds true for some of my marriages!
My approach nowadays is to implement a form of existentialist stoicism, w/ a sometimes uneasy emotive tantric practice.
The triune query I submit to myself when warnings, dangers & troubles arise: 1) How do I retrain or rebirth myself, 2) What do I need to unlearn & how do I do that, and 3) How do I take better care of myself? These are all periodically required, and even then they're frequently optional.
Sometimes the simplest answer is just to take it easy, one moment at a time...
These discernments naturally apply to others I encounter, even if they aren't on the same wavelength. If an opportunity arises to assist.
-=-
"Sometimes to keep it together, we got to leave it alone." -Don Henley/Don Felder, Wasted Time (1976).
I seek connections, maintaining them as I can, but not by being wholly dependent on them, nor always servicing them transactionally out of some discretionary need or desire. The same holds true for others I encounter in any given world. And if a situationship is edging towards a seriously painful or life & death matter, skillful empathy & altruism matters!
On the flipside of that, I don't want or need to be fooled by smiling faces or crocodile tears. My own, or those of others.
I reckon I'll give myself a thumb sideways on this post. That is enough. Not entirely one way or the other, but somewhere in between.
Meanwhile: Good fortune to you & yours, Hal, as you entrain forward in discovery! I always enjoy "The Passing Show" archives when I get some time to watch, and I also enjoy participating, when I am able to catch one of your passing shows live!
That is noise. you are music walk in song.
Of course, my expectations are at fault.
Yeah that cost to mind solve for happy.
Oh I wanted to add that I think I shouldn't hold other people at fault. I should forgive all. They are operating on outdated software based a survival mindset, subliminal messaging, our education system, our social norms, our laws which we all thought were separate and good became a web. Most of the things that occur I believe occur for two reasons greed, and fear of the unknown. A society taught to learn, but not taught to question.
"Any world that I'm welcome to... is better than the one... I come from." -Any World (That I'm Welcome To), Steely Dan (1975).
"Up on the hill, they think I'm okay. Or so they say." -Aja, Steely Dan (1977).
"I am barred from the event. I really don't understand the situation. But it's no game." -It's No Game (Part 1), David Bowie (1980).
-=-
OK, watch out! I'm on a roll here...
Worlds adjacent to worlds. Worlds within worlds. Worlds colliding... toes being stepped on, by accident or otherwise...
I've learned the hard way that being invited or uninvited by others are signals that need to be discerned & respected. Flooding a zone without permission, nor w/ any intention of asking for forgiveness afterwards, is most times a foolish errand in the long run, where consensuality is concerned.
I have an extremely addictive personality, so I've learned over the years that any substance - from aspirin, oxygen to H2O - can & will be harmfully addictive - if I let it happen that way. The opposite holds true: deprivation of the same substance can lead to suffering, at the very least.
Addictions to substances are friends (or fiends) that never say no. And it always amazes me how I will impart a sense of agency to substances.
Obviously, some addictions are rightfully desired, such as oxygen, given the circumstances & conditions one wants to work with, while others are not always useful or sufficient, let alone necessary.
As a sidebar, I don't always 100% trust the medical & naturopathic professions w/ their recommendations, esp. w/ substances & services that can have side effects, or no positive effects at all. This can turn out to be worse than the condition or conditions that I initially sought mitigations against.
Been there, done that. I found that out, as I did more research than the professionals did themselves, concerning the substances or services involved.
Standards of care & duty. Time pressures. The need to update one's knowledge. The lack of future discoveries. I get it. And I got it. And no class action lawsuit will return what was lost.
-=-
I've been feeling a wee bit under the weather for a while now, so this post should be taken w/ a heavy dose of salt. And then plenty of water! This is because I dissociate readily when I'm not feeling well.
Disclaimer: By no means am I anyone at all but an aspirant concerning these matters. I rather doubt that I've obtained these idealistic goals very often over my lifetime.
But I do remind myself that letting go of "any thing" is factually impossible in the phenomenal world, because of the natures of the five skandhas (i.e. form, feeling, perception, mental formations & consciousness). In the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition the skandhas are already null & void. Empty of any inherent, independent existence.
In other words, they're already disappearing as soon as they arise. So, when I find that I'm chasing some dragon, I then turn inward & attempt a direct realization of that fact, thereby concluding that the dragon in question is already out of reach, and will remain that way.
Therefore, it's always a matter of returning & resting within the original, luminous, primordial awareness that we all have as a birthright...
Lately & sometimes, when I'm heading for the porcelain god, I almost don't make it. Sometimes I just lay in bed, and let the feelings of suffering & pain wash over me.
Alka Seltzer. Caffeine. And Visine. All that jazz.
I've experienced encounter groups, as an assistant & as a patron. I've experienced group therapy, individual therapy, and what could be defined by some as cult-like collaborations...
The etymology of the word 'culture' is derived from the Latin colere ("to till, cultivate, tend") & cultura ("a cultivating, agriculture, care").
So, at the root of this definition, whether I like it or not, I'm frequently in a cult of one: myself. Sometimes, two: I & I. Sometimes, I & Thou.
I usually prefer smaller group gatherings in these contexts - as a general rule - such as sanghas, because when there is a bustle of activity, the overwhelming nature of all the chatter & noise in larger group settings might lead me to the nearest exit, to find some fresh air in solitude & silence.
Sometimes I leave w/ a partner, or few others...
So over time, in some group formats, once something obviously smacks of undue influence, I end up leaving.
Sometimes I go back, regardless. Sometimes there's someone there that I can maintain a connection with, and that alone draws me back in. And sometimes such a connection persists outside of the original group setting altogether.
This also holds true for some of my marriages!
My approach nowadays is to implement a form of existentialist stoicism, w/ a sometimes uneasy emotive tantric practice.
The triune query I submit to myself when warnings, dangers & troubles arise: 1) How do I retrain or rebirth myself, 2) What do I need to unlearn & how do I do that, and 3) How do I take better care of myself? These are all periodically required, and even then they're frequently optional.
Sometimes the simplest answer is just to take it easy, one moment at a time...
These discernments naturally apply to others I encounter, even if they aren't on the same wavelength. If an opportunity arises to assist.
-=-
"Sometimes to keep it together, we got to leave it alone." -Don Henley/Don Felder, Wasted Time (1976).
I seek connections, maintaining them as I can, but not by being wholly dependent on them, nor always servicing them transactionally out of some discretionary need or desire. The same holds true for others I encounter in any given world. And if a situationship is edging towards a seriously painful or life & death matter, skillful empathy & altruism matters!
On the flipside of that, I don't want or need to be fooled by smiling faces or crocodile tears. My own, or those of others.
I reckon I'll give myself a thumb sideways on this post. That is enough. Not entirely one way or the other, but somewhere in between.
Meanwhile: Good fortune to you & yours, Hal, as you entrain forward in discovery! I always enjoy "The Passing Show" archives when I get some time to watch, and I also enjoy participating, when I am able to catch one of your passing shows live!
I’ll dig in later, @Mick O!