by Enigma One 58 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The JW mindset causes all sorts of difficulties here because they always assert that they have the answer for everything.
Accepting things as they are, just being who you are is anathema to them.
BTW, the koan about the sound of one hand clapping is an answer to a question, "what is yin and yang?"
It is not attempting to enlighten us as to the nature of a particular sound.
HB
I found this HB:
| YING AND YANG | |
| The concept to Ying and Yang is central to Chinese cosmology. Yin and Yang are symbolized the sun and moon. There are two opposing forces active in the universe. Yin exists in Yang and Yang exists in Yin. This is the the changing combination of negative and positive, dark and light, cold and hot which keeps the world spinning and creates Chi - the giving life force. YIN : Female : Earth, moonlight, darkness, quiet, decreasing, absorbing, receptive, winter, soft. Direction - North, Quality - Shady, Numbers - Even. YANG : Heaven, sunlight, day, heat, motion, masculine, active, summer. Direction - South, Quality - Sunny, Numbers - uneven. Weight Loss Secrets STATE OF BALANCE : In all aspects of life a state of balance should exist between the opposing forces of Ying and Yang. | |
Enigma One, hey - no problem. Whatever "approach" one takes to see beyond the illusory self will reveal the same vision. Sometimes in the zen approach, the master will strike a student with a stick to get the student to drop the mind, sometimes he will give a koan, and sometimes he will do nothing but point to a flower and smile. There are no hard and fast "rules" to zen.
Enigma One:
Now, it makes sense to me. JT's experience and teachings are....well.....self centered IMHO. JT....please no offense meant.
No offence taken, EO; though I don't quite understand what you mean. Perhaps if I did I would be running naked down the street screaming.
When you say "self centered", do you mean in an ego-type way? Does it seem I am pointing down a path which is discounting things which shouldn't be discounted? How do you mean "self centered", exactly? And, if I may ask: who is the "me" that "it makes sense to"?
Hey Poppers, so nice to see you. You know you are welcome to clarify on my comments any time.
j
Hmmm, how to discribe this in a short written post. I didn't mean it from an ego centric point of view....that you didn't "get it" somehow. In your advice you seem to go within oneself to expand outwards to the universe. The universe grows from you outwards. Wherein I believe it should be the other way around. The universe is ever expansive and compacts itself as it draws near to you. You, me, we are insignificant within the universe. I see a danger of being "self-centered" instead of simply being self-aware.
The enlightened possess understanding
So profound they can not be understood.
Because they cannot be understood
I can only describe their appearance:
Cautious as one crossing thin ice.
So with your approach JT...I just see a potential danger....that's all. Am I making any sense at all? LOL I'm on cold / flu meds right now so my brain feels fuzzy as it is....so if it doesn't make sense....just let me know, I'll try to refine my thoughts.
EO
I do not presume to answer for JT of course. However, how could one possibly gain any remotely accurate knowledge of the Universe (macrocosm), in the context of what we're talking about here, without attempting to understand the Self (microcosm) first? Especially since the outer world that we perceive is really just a reflection upon our own perceptive faculties?
The dangers of really knowing one's self is truly significant. However, I consider it to be ego-centric to presume that one could understand anything truly of the vast, magnificent universe without first discovering the self.
Thank you, Enigma One, for your reply to my questions. I appreciate your friendly disagreement as it allows for an attempt at a hopefully clearer explanation of what can not be explained. We may not have a disagreement at all, but rather a semantics problem.
Can we be still and place this present moment of life under the attention and inspection of conscious awarness. Can we then clearly discern where the raw intimacy of our entire experience of reality and the universe occurs? Look and see where does the actual meeting, the convergence, the communion with reality unfold? I'll wait.
Look closely and see, does not Life/Reality happen from within us? There may not even be an out-there, out there. Everything known unfolds, materializes and transpires within conscious-awarness. If we are after significant understanding where else is there to look but in this shore-less effervescent pool?
You, me, we are insignificant within the universe. I see a danger of being "self-centered" instead of simply being self-aware.
Is there a separate "you" and "me" floating about in a separate "universe"? What is this "self" which you refer? This is what Taoism, Buddhism, Zen, and other ism's are try to answer, isn't it? If we distill it all down, aren't we just investigating into the truth of our being? What/Who am I, really?
Look into the pristine pool where the universe flows out of, and where everything including all wisdom and answers reside. Shift attention inward and see how deep this crystaline awarness goes. Diligently inquire within it and see if there really is a separate "you", and a individual "me", and a "universe" out there. What is the "self"? Is there one to be found? Or is there just the IS-ness and wholeness of the pool? Perhaps you and me are not "insignificant". Perhaps we don't even exist.
Danger takes the stage when we unquestionably take for granted that we are separate individuals concretely isolated within the body/mind. Then we group into tribes and nations, and build walls and war machines, and rape, kill and plunder to protect and give some shallow sense of reality to our little selves.
Enigma One, I wouldn't fear looking within; perhaps what we should fear is not looking.
j
Excuse me for being so late ... but I just had to say ....
DAMN JT!!! U GO BOY!!
(tehehee ... uhhh ... yea, a sista is from Texas. )
Dear Enigma One,
While bringing the horses down from the hill it came to me to express it another way.
What the words Buddha, Christ, Zen, Tao, etc., are feebly attempting to pointing to, is simply what is innately and naturally true and real. This truth and realness is what we actually are (just under all the words and thought that we believe ourselves and others to be). Where you guna look to find what you are?
Forget all the rest. Less is more. Be still...
Smiles_Smiles
Thank you for your kindness, but anything you hear that you like is your own wisdom and beauty speaking. Speaking of like; I like your picture and smile; I like the name you chose; and I like your joyous attitude. May I give you a warm welcome to the forum.
j
I like this topic.
I'd like to hear more about pplz "Zen" experiences and perspectives.
Without having "studied" it formally...
"Zen" is to me...a very spiritual? thing....experiential?...a centeredness...peace, balance, regardless of what's crashing down around me...it's almost biochemical...it's pure, healthy, it can sort of "transcend" the harsh realities...it's sometimes hard to find the right words, but easier to find the right tone of voice to relate it...it's more like a frequency or vibration...it's a sort of "knowing"...just knowing...and being so sure inside that that is what will be or happen or is meant...that there is no fear...it's a connection...
....it's understanding...it's seeing things from everyone's perspective at once and creating win-win's for everyone from that rather than judging "right" or "wrong"...it's forgiving others cause I see past "me's" in them and I remember and I understand and I trust...
it's what makes the mundane in my life, achingly beautiful and profound...it's what sends me to find light in dark places, possibility in
it makes me feel very alive and at the same time strangely close to death. And unafraid of that. Just aware of it....
Gotta fly, more later.
sorry about the block....haven't been around for a while not sure how to edit/format paragraphs. I type in paragraphs and it shows up as a block.
SPAZZY
