Thief
Rogue Theologian
and you have not opened your eye....to see the methods of the toad
they just sit and look around
now if your objective is to open your eye and not think
well gee.....a lot of good THAT will do....
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Enlightement
- Thread starter allfoak
- Start date
they just sit and look around
now if your objective is to open your eye and not think
well gee.....a lot of good THAT will do....
Thief
Rogue Theologian
so.....you want to be possessed by Something Greater?
like the Borg of Star Trek fame
I hear what you are saying, and I don't discount that understanding. I can see validity in it. While that may be the history of eons, all of us as "ordinary" people in this world all come with our own karmic histories in tow behind us. Being born a human, each one of us have to transverse all the normal stages of development.
That karmic history in tow behind us will be there with us through that, as well as our own inherited stuff in this life through our families and culture at large. The history alone from before this life, is not the sole factor. The "ordinary person" born in this life, with this personality, with these parents, in this culture, against these adversities and supports, still must find our ways through the maze of this entire play, from the aeons through this life to the next.
While he was karmically 'special', he is not out of the reach of anyone of us. We too are born to this life as he. And we too can realize the truth of it all, as he. I don't discount the mythologies, as I see them as a "decorated" painting of a much more subtle reality of all of this, than the literal magic displays to awe others with you find in the fabric of myths. These are fine, but it's good to see what they are about that can, and does exist in all of us, realized to one degree or another.
Personally, I see authenticity not a matter of concept. It's a matter of genuine being, without the pretenses of the ego. It's being beyond the ego. That's authenticity. You don't try. You are.
godnotgod
Thou art That
The great Tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right.
The ten thousand things depend upon it; it holds nothing back.
It fulfills its purpose silently and makes no claim.
It nourishes the ten thousand things,
And yet is not their lord.
It has no aim; it is very small.
The ten thousand things return to it,
Yet it is not their lord.
It is very great.
It does not show greatness,
And is therefore truly great.
Tao te Ching, Ch. 34
Tao Te Ching, English by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English, Terebess Asia Online (TAO)
godnotgod
Thou art That
If the eye is opened to see things as they are, then of what use is thinking? Why do you want to superimpose conceptual frameworks over Reality? You think you are going to improve on nature, don't you? Many have tried and yet, the mystery remains as seemingly impenetrable as ever to the mind of Reason. Some of us call this barrier 'The Gateless Gate'.
"I have learnt that the place wherein Thou art found unveiled is girt round with the coincidence of contradictories, and this is the wall of Paradise wherein Thou dost abide. The door whereof is guarded by the most proud spirit of Reason, and, unless he be vanquished, the way in will not lie open. Thus ‘tis beyond the coincidence of contradictories that Thou mayest be seen, and nowhere this side thereof."
Nicolas of Cusa (b. 1401), The Vision of God
Nicolas de Cusa on God, Motion and the Transcendence of Contradictories
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godnotgod
Thou art That
Didn''t the Buddha himself say that Buddha Mind and Ordinary Mind are one and the same?
A true Buddha would never make a show of himself*. In the end, it does not matter how many eons one has been on the path
All sentient beings have the Buddha nature, which sees everyone as of the same nature. They all awaken when the time is ripe. Some are further along the path than others.
But I think the missing piece of the puzzle lies in a wonderful key that Hinduism offers, and that is the idea of the divine nature hiding within all of the forms of the Universe, in a grand game of Hide and Seek. A Buddha comes to realize that all creatures are in fact the divine nature itself, none lesser nor greater, manifesting itself as all these multitudinous forms.
*It has been said that it takes seven full years to get over the stink of Enlightenment, and every time you say the word 'Buddha', you should wash your mouth out with soap.
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godnotgod
Thou art That
This “ordinary” [mind] does not mean ho-hum or customary. It means as ordinary as the way a bee softly bothers the flowers. As ordinary as waves welling and sucking back over rocks. As ordinary and unlikely as the overwhelming fact of the universe, of breathing in and out, of having a boundless consciousness that seems also to have a name and history and a mortal body. Ordinary means to be with what is, freely moving with unfolding circumstances and at rest everywhere, like a leaf in the breeze.
Zazen: Just Ordinary Mind
One who has learned to transcend ego has a different perspective on being authentic (as you are defining authenticity) than one that does not. Being authentic is not a means to enlightenment. It is a result.
I agree. In fact any understanding of anything pre-enlightenment has a different understanding. Everything gets filtered through the lens of the egoic mind and colorizes the meaning with a reflection of itself. Once we can see the ego as an "it" rather than as "me", we are no longer invested in preserving that illusion, and that energy that went there becomes freed into just authentic living.
Being ourselves in that context, is not the same thing as "being ourselves" in the context of the egoic self, because that isn't our authentic self. Being able to genuinely laugh and smile at one's own self without the need to defend or feel ashamed, becomes the first good sign of the illusion falling away and the authentic self awakening.
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Thief
Rogue Theologian
may the Force be with you
godnotgod
Thou art That
The Sun is always shining.
"From Brilliancy I came;
to Brilliancy I return.
What, then,
is all of this?"
A monk
Thief
Rogue Theologian
before He created light.....God was in the darkThe Sun is always shining.
"From Brilliancy I came;
to Brilliancy I return.
What, then,
is all of this?"
A monk
(dark energy?)
brilliant !!!!!!!!!
godnotgod
Thou art That
Thief
Rogue Theologian
well....duh.....
Of course!.....He was in the dark
godnotgod
Thou art That
What was he doing there? You mean he created Light out of Darkness? I thought he himself was Light. Get your story straight, now.
Thief
Rogue Theologian
I got it.....now you get it
godnotgod
Thou art That
Get what? That you can't see how there is just Light, without a creator of Light? You're projecting again, Thief.