+ Reply to Thread
Page 144 of 148 FirstFirst 1 44 94 134 144 148 LastLast
Results 2,861 to 2,880 of 2953

Thread: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

  1. Link to Post #2861
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    I believe there are already several threads on the Forum regarding The Hero's Journey. I would like to very briefly interpret that journey in a slightly different way here. That's because it so happens this is also the soul's (true) journey, over and over, throughout all of our life. (I suggest that's why we like to watch movies or plays or read novels or watch TV talent competitions and so on -- to remind us of, and also to reflect from a distance on, what we ourselves are really doing.)

    Practically all that we believe we know is built out of what's in our collection of memories. All of that is (precisely) our conditioning. Yes, some of our conditioning (such as professional skills) may quite often serve as a good thing. But life is also continually confronting us with so many critical situations or intense problems to which our conditioning and our education has no answer, at all. Like the hero forced to journey far out of his comfort zone, our mind once again throws its hands up, so to speak, unable to see any reliable way ahead. And yet, like the hero, we obviously must take a blind leap of faith at this point, knowing that the mind will probably not be so lucky as to now somehow hit on the right answer by accident.

    Welcome to the world of the soul, where the unknown becomes a very joyful place to adventure in. This is where the mind finally stops searching, because navigating the unknown is beyond its capabilities. Like the hero, it's only when the mind has put everything aside completely, letting the consequences be damned, that the momentum of all the conditioning, of the whole world of the known, can come to a complete stop. The end of all that the mind thinks to be permanent (yet which is all impermanent). The dark night of the mind (and not of the soul, despite what St John of the Cross may have said). Only then does what the intuition, the soul, (holistically) sees and creates as the obvious but novel and ingenious solution, come shining through or bursting forth. This is why the soul is sacred.

  2. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Harmony (21st April 2022), Johan (Keyholder) (21st April 2022), Mashika (5th May 2022), Orph (22nd April 2022), Wind (21st April 2022)

  3. Link to Post #2862
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    As far as I can tell, I have experienced, or know, or know of, certain things or phenomena which are timeless (and also beyond space -- i.e., apparently beyond, or not chained to, physical space, nor any location in it). That means they're right in "soul territory". These have been, and remain -- at least in my memory and occasional experience -- in certain ways the most lovable and wonderful and uplifting and important things or phenomena of all. Hence I am moved to try and understand these things a little better intellectually (in addition to celebrating and enjoying them in other ways too).

    Because I suspect I didn't find them totally by accident, I believe a little attempted retracing or reflection on how I came upon them shouldn't hurt, along with a little conceptual analysis of their foundations and implications. This may sound just too abstract or "intellectual" for many. But for me, it's also an excuse to bask in a different way in the glorious memory of them. And yes, that could lead to attachment to them, but it could also shed light on possible new lines of approach.

    For present purposes, I'll start from the assumption, which Vedanta and ancient Taoism both apparently make, that Spirit (or the supreme Self or Way) is the fundamental underlying or all-permeating reality. There's nothing else, not even "nothing" in the nihilistic sense of Western atheists and materialists. I'm also assuming here (based on my own direct vivid experience that this is so, and also for simplicity) that Spirit in itself quite transcends Time and Space. This would mean that Spirit then merely makes use of the descriptive value of those notions (Time and Space) where appropriate, but that they aren't fundamental "components" of Spirit itself.

    After all, we can fully understand what physical space even is only by seeing it as based on the notion of "extension". And that notion is broader than just a physical one, and therefore it must be a spiritual or mental one! That's because all change or movement (in any sense, not just the physical) is based on our having the prior existence of such "extension". And in fact (as you can see when drawing back from the physical), extension must be a spiritual notion, because the mind (and the mind-plus-emotions) itself needs a (subjective as well as objective) mental "space" (or "extension") to live in, which in turn can only be granted and created for it by the Spirit. So, then, what extension actually is is Self's or Spirit's containment
    of the entirety of the actions of its own Energy.

    Beyond all manifest space-time there exists (there must exist! because we are spirit) a timeless "space" (for lack of a different and better word) that's "larger than the largest and smaller than the smallest", as the Upanishads state, meaning it's beyond all measurable dimensions. It must exist because how else are we even able to stand back and consider "everything in space-time"? And beyond the dimensions of space is -- guess what? Dimensionless space? Or call it Consciousness if you like. But certainly, this is the "Self" described in the Vedas, that holds the entire universe in the small space or dahara akasha within the higher) heart center (or, if you like, simply "the heart"), that the Vedas say contains all time and the entire universe.

    This, in turn (if you've given me enough rope that you've accepted the plausibility of all this so far) naturally leads us to a Consciousness (higher than any type of Mind) which would e.g. regard our past, present and future in one view, containing and not contained in them, not situated at a particular moment of Time for its point of looking (out or in, or both).

    But now we've gotten inside of the Divine worlds, which may seem even more "far out" than the view up to this point, and also more paradoxical. So I'll stop at this point. I think that's more than enough hopefully mind-bending truth for now. And of course, I need hardly mention I do realize that the main thing anyway is to experience the glorious beauty of the soul and of the Divine and not worry too much about how exactly to describe exactly what it really is.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 24th April 2022 at 06:23.

  4. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Harmony (24th April 2022), Johnnycomelately (24th April 2022), Mashika (5th May 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (24th April 2022), Wind (24th April 2022)

  5. Link to Post #2863
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    The soul naturally exists at a dimensional level higher than the mental, astral, and physical worlds. (And therefore, of course, it exists quite beyond what many might consider to be nearly all the qualities that make them the individual they currently are.) Accordingly, around the time of birth it takes on and then moulds a new mental body and new astral body to go with the physical body and the couple/family dynamic it has chosen to enter. Then, after physical death, these eventually will be discarded (after some years or (in the case of the mental body) usually after centuries). The soul, however, is timeless (that is, unless or until it chooses to merge into something higher).

    Because the soul is also aware of higher realities that are found in realms beyond time and space, its choice of what particular body and situation to be born in will most certainly have a definite and detailed and ingenious overall purpose. An aware individual will usually have or develop a very general awareness of what that soul purpose is. However, some details of the soul's purpose may remain hidden throughout one's physical life, for a variety of reasons.

    Also, for example, in infancy (and thereafter) the new human being will develop an ego, in an attempt to cope with the pressures of the limitations that the physical world and interactions with others exert. The infant's ego (and hence, later, that adult's ego) cannot tolerate total accord with another, because to the ego, that would be to lose its identity. Usually the only exception to this in infancy is with the infant's mother (but not all the time, either, even with her). Notice how this opposition to harmony is in complete conflict with the soul's (and the Spirit's) natural agenda. The soul is always seeking to create cooperation and concord wherever possible. The soul is continually well aware of the need for it to make concessions or even sacrifices to bring about the best outcome for both parties in the end.

    The above are just some of the reasons why the great majority of people will mostly only hear/"see" the soul "through a glass, darkly". But we are all evolving spiritually, and so it's inevitable that in some lifetime or other, after sufficient inner development, the soul will at rare times temporarily take over or dominate the mind in a benevolent way. I have temporarily experienced this myself in various ways. At a very advanced stage, though, I know that this can become permanent and full-time. The soul can, so to speak, descend permanently into the mind and genuinely transform us into something operating at a higher level of wisdom. However, this is very rare (so far).

    Unfortunately, there exists a "psychic readings" industry and various traditions of part-time mediumship where, today, we see a plethora of would-be oracles of the hidden truths about what is really going on in individuals' lives. Trouble is, though, only a smallish percentage of the individuals involved have truly and permanently raised the level of their mind to that of absorption by the higher mind.

    Allow me to explain more about the soul's situation. The soul has probably experienced at the very least hundreds of past lifetimes on this planet, plus who knows how many more in how many other worlds/planets. It's profoundly wise. But apart from its messages in the dreams it generously and tirelessly gives you every night, the truth is it's a huge learning process for your soul to successfully communicate much of anything else to you -- unless you've truly taught yourself how to listen. Unfortunately, the great majority of people don't teach themselves that -- not that it's easy to do. The soul keeps trying, but ... well, no-one's listening at the other end. I'm sorry if this sounds insulting, but for the soul it's a little like a world-renowned professor trying to communicate with a child who hasn't learnt to talk much yet.

    Fortunately, there are methods for fixing this. I've already talked in a previous post about how to listen to the "still small voice". The other methods I know of would all be "advanced practices", but I'll mention them now just in case. In this thread I've already mentioned getting genuine "downloads". Also there's getting "visions", which are like full-color broadscreen movies lasting at least for some minutes. Trouble is, because these are truly "advanced" phenomena, you'll need to do some super-good and advanced meditating or consciousness-uplifting and then just maybe they can happen, sometimes. A possibly somewhat less "advanced" version is to learn to cultivate spontaneous experiences of "inspiration". Many professionally creative people try to use this. You can, for example, ask the question you want information about (or put the problem which needs to be solved). Then you meditate, but you need to rise to a high level, of overflowing joy and bliss. Then, not long after the meditating, you tune in again to the bliss, and out will flow plenty of good, high-quality information straight from somewhere deep in your mind.

    Another method I know of seems to come only with considerable advancement in meditation, so that you've already at least had some kind of experience of the Divine worlds. You become aware of how your "subconscious" sometimes actively makes itself known to the conscious mind, usually in a wordless way -- though actually it will be your subconscious PLUS the super-conscious, which is the soul. This means you're in some way mastering how to "let the subconscious (and the super-conscious) in". Then you'll find (or, at least, I've found) that at rare but crucial moments in your everyday life the soul will sometimes briefly take over the conscious for a few minutes, for example to prevent thoughts about any topic except one, so as to rather unsubtly steer your mind in exactly the right direction that it should be looking at.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 27th April 2022 at 22:20.

  6. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Harmony (28th April 2022), Mashika (5th May 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (27th April 2022), Peace in Oz (29th April 2022), Wind (29th April 2022)

  7. Link to Post #2864
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    There is a recent thread on the Forum attempting to intellectually discuss the question of what is time (assuming that's a meaningful question, which strictly speaking I suggest it isn't, not quite, -- as I'll try to explain here "now").

    Let's consider the findings of the great philosopher Kant (and by "great", I mean that in the world of Western philosophy, "modern" usually means "from Kant or after Kant"). He correctly observed that our mind's knowledge of what time it is always precedes, and pre-tags in advance, our mind's very act of perception of whatever event or object or circumstance we're looking at. Hence, it absolutely follows that time must be something that's altogether "in here" (in the human mind) and not "out there", despite what we may imagine. (However, it's also true that in a sense you could say our consciousness (which was lying "within") "expands outwards" for that moment, but not "outwards" in any sense of ceasing to be "within" us.)

    So I agree with Kant (and Zen, and the Vedas, and so on): time isn't something we can ever know, or get to understand, by or through thinking, at all. In fact, all true knowledge (ultimately!) comes entirely through what we are, anyway. After all, you are (a) Spirit, or a soul, and nothing less. True knowledge is always a matter of realization. Yes, I know that word sounds almost like "creation of what's truly real". But all true knowledge, even of mundane things, is a matter of consciousness, and of the soul. The memory isn't what goes "click", any more than the movement of the clock hand is what constitutes time passing.

  8. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Casey Claar (2nd May 2022), Harmony (5th May 2022), Mashika (5th May 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (2nd May 2022), Wind (3rd May 2022)

  9. Link to Post #2865
    Canada Avalon Member Johnnycomelately's Avatar
    Join Date
    14th January 2022
    Location
    Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    Language
    English
    Age
    65
    Posts
    1,002
    Thanks
    18,597
    Thanked 5,577 times in 981 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    Quote Posted by TraineeHuman (here)
    There is a recent thread on the Forum attempting to intellectually discuss the question of what is time (assuming that's a meaningful question, which strictly speaking I suggest it isn't, not quite, -- as I'll try to explain here "now").

    Let's consider the findings of the great philosopher Kant (and by "great", I mean that in the world of Western philosophy, "modern" usually means "from Kant or after Kant"). He correctly observed that our mind's knowledge of what time it is always precedes, and pre-tags in advance, our mind's very act of perception of whatever event or object or circumstance we're looking at. Hence, it absolutely follows that time must be something that's altogether "in here" (in the human mind) and not "out there", despite what we may imagine. (However, it's also true that in a sense you could say our consciousness (which was lying "within") "expands outwards" for that moment, but not "outwards" in any sense of ceasing to be "within" us.)

    So I agree with Kant (and Zen, and the Vedas, and so on): time isn't something we can ever know, or get to understand, by or through thinking, at all. In fact, all true knowledge (ultimately!) comes entirely through what we are, anyway. After all, you are (a) Spirit, or a soul, and nothing less. True knowledge is always a matter of realization. Yes, I know that word sounds almost like "creation of what's truly real". But all true knowledge, even of mundane things, is a matter of consciousness, and of the soul. The memory isn't what goes "click", any more than the movement of the clock hand is what constitutes time passing.
    Hi Trainee. I get why you didn’t post this there, on Casey’s What is Time thread. You seem to have both no clue and no desire to learn about this topic, and your “...attempting to intellectually discuss...” smacks of something. Please get off your high horse and join the discussion over there.

  10. The Following User Says Thank You to Johnnycomelately For This Post:

    Mashika (5th May 2022)

  11. Link to Post #2866
    Australia Avalon Member Ankle Biter's Avatar
    Join Date
    30th May 2013
    Language
    English
    Age
    46
    Posts
    376
    Thanks
    7,897
    Thanked 2,662 times in 368 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    A few nights ago I 'woke' during a sleep. As I'm getting older this seems to be more rare but lately I've found myself becoming more attuned to an energy or frequency that seems to match a lot with others that profess to be empathic people.. granted that it would be mathematically highly improbable to not encounter this on a medium (interwebz) where like-minded individuals gravitate to and share stories... anyways my point being that a few nights ago, was feeling great, actually was feeling good all week only then for a sudden wave of weird energy to wash over me.. So I went to shut down all electronics and into a meditation before settling in for the night and get some quality sleeps to which at some point the waking up happened.

    This experience was very very similar to one which happened in 2011.. when I found myself out of body I stayed slightly above my sleeping body in quiet contemplative conscientiousness and maintaining a subtle awareness of being simultaneously in my meat suit, outside of it, in the space of the room and in a astral space... I was recalling the sudden wave of shift in energy/frequ3ency that washed over me earlier in the evening.. something that has happened rather a lot of late and with increased frequency.. I won't delve into that too deeply because it's probably not the thread for it.. I dunno, we'll see.. as I was recalling this wave's onset I found myself thinking of further levels or planes that simultaneously overlap and how during this one experience in 2011 I broke through or tore through a 'fabric' to reveal another plane. In that experience it was with the intent to confront entities which is where my username/avatar comes from, entities that have hung around me since even from birth.

    So again I 'tore' this fabric of reality and sure enough there was an ankle biter who paid me no attention until I was all up in its face then it did notice me with what felt like a mild annoyance and a bit of a bitch slap to throw me back out and then awaken from the sleep.. not the first time this has happened and in the past some of these interactions were less one sided and even went more to my own advantage.

    At the time these experiences happened a lot in my earlier years I was quite deep into my meditation, exercises, minimalist lifestyle.. the more I moved away from that and into basically 3d earth 9-5 daily grind type of stuff it all basically stopped... I don't find that its any coincidence that for the last year and a bit I've freed myself of most of the distraction again and living as clean & healthily as I can, focusing more on deep meditation and growing in awareness of energy/frequency shifts maybe more OBEs?.. we'll have to see.

    As for the encounter with this entity and their kind, I've always tried to keep an open mind that it's a projection of a deep suppressed trauma or internal issue unexplored, though that just doesn't sit right.. never did. I've lately been way more reliant on my intuition and 99.97% sure these energy parasites are exogenous in origin and very much way more active in our current but ever changing timelines.
    To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. -Lao Tzu

    I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.

  12. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Ankle Biter For This Post:

    Harmony (9th May 2022), Mashika (5th May 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (6th May 2022), TraineeHuman (5th May 2022), Wind (6th May 2022)

  13. Link to Post #2867
    On Sabbatical
    Join Date
    26th September 2019
    Language
    None
    Posts
    3,411
    Thanks
    10,548
    Thanked 27,828 times in 3,335 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    Quote Posted by Johnnycomelately (here)
    Quote Posted by TraineeHuman (here)
    There is a recent thread on the Forum attempting to intellectually discuss the question of what is time (assuming that's a meaningful question, which strictly speaking I suggest it isn't, not quite, -- as I'll try to explain here "now").

    Let's consider the findings of the great philosopher Kant (and by "great", I mean that in the world of Western philosophy, "modern" usually means "from Kant or after Kant"). He correctly observed that our mind's knowledge of what time it is always precedes, and pre-tags in advance, our mind's very act of perception of whatever event or object or circumstance we're looking at. Hence, it absolutely follows that time must be something that's altogether "in here" (in the human mind) and not "out there", despite what we may imagine. (However, it's also true that in a sense you could say our consciousness (which was lying "within") "expands outwards" for that moment, but not "outwards" in any sense of ceasing to be "within" us.)

    So I agree with Kant (and Zen, and the Vedas, and so on): time isn't something we can ever know, or get to understand, by or through thinking, at all. In fact, all true knowledge (ultimately!) comes entirely through what we are, anyway. After all, you are (a) Spirit, or a soul, and nothing less. True knowledge is always a matter of realization. Yes, I know that word sounds almost like "creation of what's truly real". But all true knowledge, even of mundane things, is a matter of consciousness, and of the soul. The memory isn't what goes "click", any more than the movement of the clock hand is what constitutes time passing.
    Hi Trainee. I get why you didn’t post this there, on Casey’s What is Time thread. You seem to have both no clue and no desire to learn about this topic, and your “...attempting to intellectually discuss...” smacks of something. Please get off your high horse and join the discussion over there.
    There are good reasons to not take an "attempt to intellectually discuss" such topics, this goes beyond scope of that thread, it's like walking on your hands and then trying to run that way wondering why everything looks odd and you feel bad then your head turns blue after a while, it's just not the way sometimes

    There are reasons, very good ones, to not attempt to go that way, not everything always has to follow specific roads or pre-understood paths on how to do things

    If you always ask for someone to explain things to you, then you will never discover anything, you will always just know less than the person explaining things to you. And associated thoughts from that if you wish

    Or in short, to not make this a thread derailing post much more than it already is:

    If you always start your learning process from what someone else already considers an advanced path of discovery and documenting, then you are just following their steps, you don't know much more than that, even if the steps direct you to a deep fall in the end.

    *Sometimes you have to throw away all you think you or others know and start from scratch, then you may discover some marvelous stuff, or not*

    Anyway, here's an emoji that looks like a banana but turned out to be the moon
    Last edited by Mashika; 5th May 2022 at 08:08.
    Tired

  14. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to Mashika For This Post:

    Ankle Biter (6th May 2022), Chip (6th June 2022), Harmony (9th May 2022), Johnnycomelately (5th May 2022), Orph (6th May 2022), TraineeHuman (5th May 2022), Wind (6th May 2022)

  15. Link to Post #2868
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    Yes, indeed, Ankle Biter, we all have sub-personalities, of different kinds and at different levels too. I would say that's why it's always important just where we "inwardly" put our consciousness, and not just drift along with the sub-personalities' "tide". We should ideally let our soul take the helm as much as we're able to do. It has great power and strength, but, for example, it lives in a "world" where everything is actually consciousness, and we should regard the "veils" that disguise that fact as "doorways" that indicate what aspects of the "realms" of matter it should apply its own power and force into at each moment. The soul is happy enough for us for now not to apply it into those areas. But it allows that only so that we can learn the lesson of consciously choosing the soul and eventually, one day, inviting it in always (let's hope).

    There are different types of knowledge of the world, but the soul is the true "jack of all trades" and indeed is (and should one day be accepted as) "master of all of them". Very few individuals have found their true nature, but it's hidden somewhere deep inside all of us. People claim to yearn for "more", for something greater and more connected to others and with access to superior quality of experiences and knowledge. But it's all already there, waiting to be "felt" and for you to focus most of your attention on it instead of on what's not ultimately important. Be great. Be really something, and without needing to "prove" that you are. Most people are quite unaware that this inner greatness is just simply who they really are. They usually need to discover that this is really themself. They need to get fully interconnected with who they really are inwardly. The little sub-personalities are hanging around so much and creating great chaos only because they think the house has been vacated by its owner.

    And like Mashika eloquently says in the previous post, only you can find your way to the inner you and all its greatness. Just trust your own "inner" nose. So simple!
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 6th May 2022 at 05:25.

  16. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Ankle Biter (6th May 2022), Harmony (9th May 2022), Mashika (9th May 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (6th May 2022), Peace in Oz (6th May 2022), Wind (6th May 2022)

  17. Link to Post #2869
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    Real understanding is something that's part of the fabric of you, at some deep level. It's not words words words. With that big disclaimer, let me say there does seem to be agreement among true mystics etc that the totality of reality/existence/being does exist as "the One without a second", and also that it resembles a formless but "infinite-directions" multi-process, which makes it quite unpindownable, and to a large degree undefinable. This is also of course what some call "God". There also seems to be considerable agreement (particularly among those individuals whose words about it are based on experience -- and yes, of course, we know that very many aspects of it can genuinely be experienced or interacted with), that it's an experience that it's indivisible, and also that it's in itself blissful by nature, and blissful to experience. It's also what philosophers call an Absolute, which basically means something that's quite real but infinite. It's also of course in many ways ultimately the only true "home" (as distinct from the smaller kinds of "home"), for everything that is. But wait, there's more. (That was like the commercial break, intended to give your brain cells a rest before the second paragraph starts, so that they don't overheat.)

    Although this totality of reality/existence/being is intrinsically indivisible (and in many ways unsayable and certainly in many ways undefinable), we can single out certain aspects or spin-off phenomena, particularly when we look at its broadest relationships with itself. One of these is Consciousness. It uses Consciousness to look at aspects or parts of itself. And that happens whenever Consciousness acts. Notice I just said "whenever". This is, in fact, the primordial "when" here. This is where Time gets made in the first place -- by the Totality reaching out from its ultra-balanced primordial state and (rather than being just plain Being) narrowing itself down to (or "donning the suit of") Consciousness of some single aspect or part of itself. Notice, though, that from the Totality's point of view, acts of narrowing like this are all happening simultaneously -- because the Totality, by definition, never narrows itself. Only Consciousness does.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 9th May 2022 at 03:35.
    Above all, always refuse to cut your life in two: nonduality/duality, matter/Spirit, etc
    A mind which is not crippled by memory has real freedom. ~ J. Krishnamurti
    (True, deep) stillness is the way.

  18. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Ankle Biter (12th May 2022), Harmony (9th May 2022), Mashika (9th May 2022), Orph (9th May 2022), Wind (9th May 2022)

  19. Link to Post #2870
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    Early in this thread I made some brief observations about sub-personalities, but it's a huge topic. The reality is, life does continually demand us to respond, very often instantly or within at most a few days or weeks, to serve the survival and self-esteem and social prestige and inner learning needs (in us) and the requirements (by whoever or whatever is in our environment) in and for each situation we find ourselves in. Our sub-personalities are the strategic groupings or interminglings of thoughts, emotions, behaviours, actions, spiritual ideals or intuitions, and beliefs or working hypotheses by which "we" (well, the sub-personalities) carry out the task of coping (hopefully) well with life.

    So we do have a number of distinct sub-personalities, each one supposedly appropriate (or, at any rate, used by us) for a certain type of situation or action. Our sub-personalities are themselves going through a kind of lifecycle and indeed even a reincarnation cycle (hopefully with lives shorter than our own) in us. They can come into existence in the present lifetime, or expand and refine themselves, and then at some future time in this or a future life they will fade away and "die" (or evolve and get "reborn" in us as a new, wiser or more effective sub-personality), but the soul will retain all the wisdom of experience that the sub-personality has taught it. Even within a single lifetime, the older we get, the more intelligent we become, at least in the sense of having developed more sophisticated and refined ways of dealing with our problems, and also not feeling as overwhelmed by them as when we were younger.

    It's also true that everyone has certain "stuck" sub-personalities, which don't evolve like the other sub-personalities do. This is a very big deal. In this case, the individual is stuck in the past in whatever area(s) such sub-personalities cover. However, someone who engages in regular meditation or other active self-development work should eventually outgrow such stuckness, even though it may take some years or even longer. Freud placed great emphasis on attributing certain sub-personalities to certain ages. Thus, someone stuck at the stage of throwing tantrums to try to get their way would be attributed to be stuck at an emotional age of four or five, or possibly six. (And I would see advertising, for example, as a kind of sophisticated way of throwing a quick tantrum.) In a looser way I would agree with Freud that a great many individuals remain for many years at an emotional maturity level appropriate to somewhere in childhood or adolescence.

    Most types of psychotherapy or personal growth work deal with attempting to in some way get the stuck sub-personalities unstuck at some level (or to at least begin to do so more). As I see it, when properly performed, meditation is a way of opening up the "gates" of your mind and heart to receiving whatever the soul has to communicate to you, and to staying true to the greatness of who and what you really are. As I've mentioned, though, we need to get used to just accepting whatever our soul is advising or showing us, but in our postmodern Western culture we don't listen to it enough. But at least we can try to hear more of what it's trying to say to (the "normal" level of consciousness of) us.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 12th May 2022 at 05:57.

  20. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Ankle Biter (12th May 2022), Harmony (12th May 2022), Mashika (9th June 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (12th May 2022), Peace in Oz (12th May 2022), Wind (12th May 2022)

  21. Link to Post #2871
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    It's certainly useful for you to identify all your sub-personalities. That's because identification is the first step in understanding why they're there and what they really do. Such identification, accurately done, is already half the battle. The practice of mindfulness, which I assume most of us strive to practise continually (until the moments when we forget to) in ordinary daily life, does implicitly identify the particular sub-personalities at the fore in each moment. Maybe, though, that doesn't usually quite include identifying the sub-personalities' names (like: "rebel", "fatherlike protector", "innocent bystander", "covert influencer", "competent person regardless of the challenge", "person whose job it is to cry "Wolf", "workaholic", "martyr", "conciliator", "the average, very human, also-ran person", "the divinely appointed judge or expert", "person who's only pretending to want to be there", "nurturer", "person who keeps shooting themselves in the foot", "the addict, or fanatic", "the troubled, suffering, unhappy soul", "spoiled brat", "mother(er)", "sensualist", "team builder", and "compulsive helper or protector", to name only some of them).

    One difficulty which many fail to avoid in discussions of spirituality is to admit and face that they tacitly imply there's only a thin thread of connection between the personal (as with the sub-personalities) on the one hand, and the cosmic on the other. That in itself is heavily laden with implicit inconsistencies and impossibilities. In the past, and even today in quite a few spiritual circles, that has rendered the evolutionary nature of spirituality to be almost non-existent, or a side-issue. However, as of the twentieth century particularly, spirituality has come to be recognised as being more and more centrally a matter of "personal growth", and even as involving real evolution occurring "in action" no less than the Darwinian variety is so in the biological sphere. This is why the centrality of the notion of a "soul", with one of its feet squarely in the Divine reality and the other foot planted right inside individual experiences and realizations and actions, is gigantically important and absolutely needed.

    Part of the problem is that Reality transcends all models and all words and all categories. But our ultimate role as humanoid beings is to spiritualize even the density of matter. The task is a miraculous one, yet each of us is adding in our own contribution simply by living out the miracle of ever so slowly transforming "the water into wine", for lack of a better metaphor. Transforming the formerly (or supposedly) impossible into undeniable reality. What amazing creatures we actually must be.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 14th May 2022 at 05:42.

  22. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Ankle Biter (1st June 2022), Harmony (14th May 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (14th May 2022), Peace in Oz (21st May 2022), Wind (14th May 2022)

  23. Link to Post #2872
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    I notice that Kim Gougen has recently made several videos about how to use one's energies and connect with Source and so on. (Incidentally, before I get to that, I had had some repeating dreams, that I couldn't shut off, for about three years in the recent past which I now suspect must have been about Kim. In those dreams, it seemed to me like she was somehow or in some sense a reincarnation of the Earth Godess (Gaia, or Kali, or whatever), coming back to (it seemed) very successfully restore some balance on the planet in some way. My dreams also identified her as being a distant cousin of mine. Kim says she is by inheritance the rightful czar of Russia. That would make her a descendant of Katherine the Great, whose racial ancestry was Prussian but also partly French, I believe. My mother was nine-sixteenths French royal line and three-sixteenths Prussian royal, which would mean Kim could be something like a third cousin of mine. Kim's maiden surname (Adams) was also the same as my mother's, being one of the few "in exile" surnames used by the descendants of the French royal line.)

    In her first video on connecting with one's higher energies, Kim refers to the solar plexus energy center as "the heart". I admit it's quite true that the ordinary heart chakra merely acts as an amplifier of the energy ultimately coming from the solar plexus chakra. Also, Zen Buddhism and Taoism both stress to beginners that the solar plexus is the most central energy center and the center that accumulates the strongest physical life-energy (and in that sense can be said to be "the heart", as in the most central part).

    On the other hand, as Yoga and Taoism and other schools stress, there is also a second heart center that everyone should eventually develop, and it's known as "the higher heart center". This is located behind the heart center, but still exactly midway between the right and left sides of the body. My higher heart center feels like it's virtually, but not quite, in the skin of my back. If someone is trying to cast me in a master-slave relationship with themselves supposedly as the dictatorial master (in matters of business, or employment, or my reputation, or partnership of any kind, or shared possessions or accommodation, and so on), I feel a massive pressure and discomfort in that part of my back. Fortunately I have some "psychic judo" skills by which I can so to speak "bounce" or "reflect" the oppressive energy back to its originator. Every experienced meditator should learn to master the use of psychic energy, though normally they should use it mostly to create strong balance within themselves, or to bring down the Force to achieve something very positive. But when it comes to the purely (psychically-)energetic side of anything to do with power or painting mental/emotional pictures for others (as professional performers do), not to mention successfully taking actions in the astral or higher worlds, the higher heart's energies need to be brought into play.

    Nevertheless, I do like the way Kim emphasizes getting a direct connection all the way from one's solar plexus to Source, even if I would also protest that it's really to the oversoul above one's head and thence to Source.

  24. The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Ankle Biter (1st June 2022), Delight (6th June 2022), Harmony (21st May 2022), meeradas (18th July 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (22nd May 2022), Wind (21st May 2022)

  25. Link to Post #2873
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    The soul (or call it "the super-conscious ability or "mind" or "intelligence" in us) doesn't itself really have an "off" switch at all, so to speak. You may not know that Beethoven and Mozart, for example, used to say they wrote their entire works by direct "dictation" bar by bar, coming direct from something inside themselves that actually wrote their works in first but also final draft form. No corrections. Back then they didn't have white-out, so it was necessary for composers to get things perfectly right on the first attempt.

    The question then is, why do nearly all of us (except kids up to the age of six or seven!) habitually keep attention to their hearing the soul's "voice" switched off? (So then, during the day, the soul doesn't ever give up on sending us little messages all the time every day, but we just never ever listen (not during the day), and then also we've quite forgotten that the inner truth always comes in a super-poetic type of language and symbolism.) What does our reptilian-controlled society and school system, and hence we, have against the peaceful simplicity of genuine (unpretentious) perfection, and how come we get taught that to "grow up" means to continually switch off the stream of consciousness of our "imagination"? Why do we utterly forget that our dreams at night are the purest and wisest form of truth (and honesty) by far that there is? Why do we lose the ability to keep that connected to the truth inside us, and instead come to pollute it with misleading fantasy?

    The first step in recovery will often necessarily be you learning to slow your thinking down. Of course, this is something every meditator does (or learns to do) during the first five minutes or so of a meditation session. At such a point you'll then notice your mind probably goes into what of course seems at first to you to be a kind of idle state. Somehow, at this point, you ideally need to start tapping wordlessly into what you directly know (or directly "feel" intuitively), regardless of how weird this may seem to the super-"educated" mind the system has tried to install at the expense of repressing everything else.

    Imagination is super-fun. (Why did you forget that? What happened to "playing"? You have to practise freeing your imagination from its shackles again. Let it run wild. It isn't crazy by nature, but it may be feeling crazy at first because it's been so locked up. In early high school I had two art teachers, because our family moved and so I attended two different schools in the same year. At both schools, the art teacher told me that I had a very strong sense of color, and that it was miles stronger than that of any of my classmates (and that was because I used my color sense imaginatively). (On the other hand, my natural style was abstract expressionist, and both teachers told me, silly "trained" experts as they were, that I would need to be a high school graduate plus an art school graduate too before I could be allowed to follow my natural style of abstract expressionism. Silly teachers. Even they too had "learnt" that the soul must be trained to wear blinkers. To quote T.S. Eliot if I may be so bold: "I did not know that death had undone so many.")
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 6th June 2022 at 05:17.

  26. The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Ankle Biter (10th June 2022), Delight (6th June 2022), Ernie Nemeth (6th June 2022), Harmony (6th June 2022), Johan (Keyholder) (6th June 2022), meeradas (18th July 2022), Orph (6th June 2022), Shamz (12th July 2022), Wind (6th June 2022)

  27. Link to Post #2874
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    Further to the comments in post #2861, let's look at the question Ulysses is asked before he first sets out on his whole epic journey: "Who will be the hero of your life?" The soul, our own soul, the true us, is totally meant to be that hero for us, always. The soul has the full solutions that we need, always. But as Ulysses' questioner implies, there's a huge danger that we won't always step up to the plate fully enough and live such an inspired life. And we'll do that simply because life in this world does so frequently let us down.

    Under the spell of our disappointment, we won't listen to what our soul is trying to tell us. But our soul is altogether divine in nature. It can create the perfect answer, the perfect way to go on. This is our birthright. We need to somehow not lose sight of its wonderful light. Our problems and our chaos and our allowing ourselves to be steamrolled by our own suffering (if indeed that's what happens in our case) all require genuine and complete solutions. We can find such solutions by using soul qualities such as great curiosity and exceptional courage, and a beginner's mind that happily ventures into the unimaginable. Those solutions to the problems of our living will come in some form or other, always. That's how the universe works. The only question is, will we have truly refused to be defeated or "castrated" by the problems, and will we have outshone the possibility of any emotional suffering? Or will we have abdicated from being the one who was the hero in that area of our lives?

    We were meant to walk hand in hand with our soul every day, to feel the link every day (to the Divine, if you like). Then, on feeling that link, to listen to (or at least know in some perhaps vague sense) what the message from the Divine is, that our soul is trying to pass onto you individually.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 26th June 2022 at 05:11.

  28. The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Ankle Biter (1st July 2022), Harmony (26th June 2022), Johnnycomelately (27th June 2022), onevoice (26th June 2022), Orph (26th June 2022), Shamz (12th July 2022), Wind (26th June 2022), wondering (18th July 2022)

  29. Link to Post #2875
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    It's more accurate to say that the soul or Higher Self isn't something separate from you, but, rather, it's the true you, the truer you, and kind of hidden, at a certain deeper level. For everyday practical purposes you may not engage the soul. But why not "humor" it at all times? It's always there to show you the pathway to in the end being able to experience (ultimately) bliss, or deep peace, in the particular situation an circumstances you're in. Very often, though, what the soul is pointing towards will seem like nothing more than a test of character, a (tough) challenge for you to show how capable or strong or brave or inventive you are. But, taking that challenge is what real living is properly all about, surely.

    It's not really that the soul is a tough taskmaster, actually, when you get right down to it. Rather, the physical world we live in (certainly on this planet at least) is at almost every major turn a very, very challenging place if we truly face up to it. Being the true us, our soul is in reality our best friend -- you know, that friend who's not afraid to tell it (or show it) like it is, yet remains totally on your side.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 10th July 2022 at 23:06.

  30. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Harmony (11th July 2022), Orph (11th July 2022), Shamz (12th July 2022), Wind (11th July 2022), wondering (18th July 2022)

  31. Link to Post #2876
    United States Avalon Member Shamz's Avatar
    Join Date
    19th August 2011
    Location
    Cary, NC, USA
    Posts
    186
    Thanks
    1,639
    Thanked 855 times in 167 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    Hello - Can you elaborate on when you wrote " our reptilian controlled society and school system"?

    I heard/read lot about reptilians and all - but want to know your understanding/views about it?
    ~~ Much Love
    In Lak'ech Ala K'in ( I am You and You are me )

  32. The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Shamz For This Post:

    Harmony (12th July 2022), TraineeHuman (12th July 2022), Wind (12th July 2022), wondering (18th July 2022)

  33. Link to Post #2877
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    I guess I've seen a small number of reptilians in the astral at some time or other, but I'm certainly no expert on them. Some people (like Kim Goguen or Alex Collier) apparently know various details of how reptilians have covertly dominated humanity on Earth, so all I can do is mostly rely on what those people say. Some of the reptilians I've come across in the astral certainly appeared to be very benign, actually, though I guess you might ask were they trying to manipulate?

    I guess I believe that too much of what goes on in our society seems to be dominated by greed and even, it seems, by institutionalized greed, and by self-interest at the expense of others. (Greed is generally not good, at all.) OK, on the other hand there's still a firm recognition in the more affluent countries that the ideal is some kind of fusion of capitalism and socialism, at least economically speaking. The "socialism" part, such as social security payments like pensions and unemployment benefits, at least places less urgency on the need for "survival at all costs (and putting everything else on hold if necessary)". I assume that or at least something like social benefits and public centers or facilities will continue in the future.

    When it comes to economics, I'm no expert anyway. But look at the kinds of things that commentators like, for example, Catherine Austin Fitts seem to keep exposing, and there always seems to be something new and more dire. I guess it seems that too many of those in power apparently haven't learnt much about how to outgrow that stuff. I guess that stuff is, precisely, coming out of the reptilian part of the brains of humans, mostly?

    When I was four my grandmother in Lithuania sent me a book (in Lithuanian) with a story about how a single very brave person, armed only with a very reliable sword, fights off and kills flying dragons who are trying to attack him. It was the first book I ever read, and at that age I found the story exhiliratingly exciting. At first there's only one dragon, but then there are many, and then most of them breathe fire, and have multiple heads. But the person with the sword somehow wins and kills them all, because he's brave enough to face them all and not feel defeated by them at any point. At as young an age as I was, though, a child assumes that most of the details of a story are a description of something factual, something that really happened.

    I do certainly think that some humans who are wealthy or who have power, in society or in a large company or government organisation, or a self-help motivational type of organisation, do seem to me to have a quantity of extra reptilian in their genes somewhere. That happens too often. Those individuals are always con artists. The dragons like gold, very much. And to transfer plenty of what's in your wallet over to theirs, if they're some self-development guru they use the always still unfulfilled promise of gold (or of psychological/spiritual freedom) for you too.

  34. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Harmony (13th July 2022), Johan (Keyholder) (18th July 2022), Orph (13th July 2022), Peace in Oz (13th July 2022), Wind (13th July 2022), wondering (18th July 2022)

  35. Link to Post #2878
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    The One is everywhere and in all and also in a sense beyond all.
    On the other hand, the soul is by its nature dedicated to seeking out what is the truth and rejecting what is false (or partial, or a form of limitation or self-division), at all levels but of course including, to a degree, even quite mundane levels that are part of our daily living. The soul never stops doing this as best it can. In this way, the soul is continually linking together and reconciling what were partial views or understandings of reality or of the ultimate truth. However, throughout all this the soul is itself caught up in a partial or limited understanding at each point, even though it's at each stage forming a synthesis of all the truth it's gathered so far.

    Thank goodness the soul is so absolutely determined to do this, though. Because at every point it can't help but reject its own view, gained from its progress so far, as ignorance, and inadequate, and only partial. That is what keeps propelling it to go further and try to find the real, fullest truth, and not be willing to rest until it does so (if it ever does). And that is also what makes the soul finer and ever finer as we grow older. Along the way, though, in the early years of our lives the soul (initially, in a kind of self-defense) firmly rejects certain understandings or viewpoints as not being its own. That refusal to face and assimilate certain experiences one has had as being "truly me" or "truly mine" is exactly what creates the ego, as I understand it. And yes, the soul does create and build the ego, particularly early in our lives. But it also kills ego off as it comes to recognize that some parts of the ego are not the truth.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 18th July 2022 at 09:29.

  36. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Harmony (18th July 2022), Johan (Keyholder) (18th July 2022), onevoice (18th July 2022), Orph (19th July 2022), Wind (18th July 2022), wondering (18th July 2022)

  37. Link to Post #2879
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    How does mindfulness work?
    ==========================

    .Mindfulness is, among other things,a (gradual but extremely effective) cure for depression, or more generally, a cure even for not feeling happy.
    Professional psychotherapy fully recognizes this, these days.
    .Mindfulness is meditation-in-action, any place, any time. The meeting of the two worlds. Right now I'd like you all to pause to do one particular type
    of mindfulness known as grounding. Here is a form of grounding that can be done without even moving other than to place one hand over our solar plexus
    (as was described in an early post on this thread -- sorry, I haven't found the post number as yet) with the thumb "hooked into" your belly button and h
    e other fingers flat, and in contact with your belly), and you continue this for at least a few minutes.

    .Mindfulness is also a means of bringing back inside us what we have forgotten or lost. It could be called "remind-fulness."
    .It's a form of meditation while you are (also) being busy in some active way. I guess this is along the lines of making the mountain (i.e. the soul's
    eyeview) come to Mahommed even when Mahommed is too busy (or just taking a break) in the everyday world or the marketplace.

    .Now let's consider why mindfulness works -- why it uplifts us. There's that famous Vietnamese teacher who claims to sum up what mindfulness is by saying:
    "When you wash the dishes, just wash the dishes." Yes, perfectly correct. But I suggest that's also a bit misleading, put like that. What he's REALLY saying
    is: "Wash the dishes and be one-pointed while you do." You can think of this as meaning that you have your attention going in two directions at once.
    There's a direction or "arrow" going in, to the deeper inside of you; and there's a direction or "arrow" going out, to the dishes and what you do with them.
    Like this:

    the dishes
    ^
    |
    |

    you
    |
    |
    v
    your soul, within you

    When I say hold your attention both out and also simultaneously on whatever is within, notice now that this ombines those two, outside and within, together, temporarily. Both the "in" and the "out" arrow combined together.

    In my next post I'll draw some conclusions from this, though I'd like to give you the space to ponder it a little before I do so.
    Above all, always refuse to cut your life in two: nonduality/duality, matter/Spirit, etc
    A mind which is not crippled by memory has real freedom. ~ J. Krishnamurti
    (True, deep) stillness is the way.

  38. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Harmony (16th September 2022), onevoice (18th September 2022), Orph (15th September 2022), Peace in Oz (18th September 2022), Wind (16th September 2022), wondering (19th September 2022)

  39. Link to Post #2880
    Avalon Member TraineeHuman's Avatar
    Join Date
    22nd March 2010
    Posts
    1,926
    Thanks
    4,527
    Thanked 11,920 times in 1,827 posts

    Default Re: The Higher Self and transcendent experience, including OBEs

    In the previous post we saw how mindfulness involves both an "out" direction, into greater expansion, and an "inwards" direction, into something smaller and possibly even microscopic or even beyond that. It seems clear to me that in Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) was referring to something like the "out" and "in" arrows. Obviously, of the potions that are available for Alice to drink, one does make her smaller and the other makes her larger. I consider that this is one issue Dodgson does implicitly explore a little in both Alice in Wonderland and in Through the Looking Glass [a mirror or magnifying glass being what we use to see reality more clearly). I believe that in his choice of symbolism, Dodgson was implicitly considering certain issues regarding how to integrate or combine the two views.

    Alice, by being mindful, was bigger than the individuals or figures in her environment. In the practice of mindfulness, you hold your attention both out and inwards simultaneously. Because you're holding your attention in these two ways simultaneously, your attention becomes rather like a fork handle, let's say. The handle is holding two prongs inseparably together, and as if they were solidly glued together. That is interesting because it it shows clearly that 'you" are not just that fork handle but instead, during this experience at least, you're as big (or your attention is as big) as the whole kaboodle. And that what is part of "you" and at least temporarily "yours" actually extends well beyond the boundaries of your skin. I guess we've heard this before, but my point is that the mere practice of mindfulness reconfirms it, in an active way. "You" are actually gigantic, and bigger than the sum total of everything you experience. And if you throw in the proposition that "the kingdom of heaven (or God) is entirely within you, then you and your soul must be very vast indeed.

    We also see then that no problem of daily living, being something that's finite and limited, can ever be as "big" in impact as you actually are. Really, it should be no match for you as long as you remain true to the brilliant who/what you actually are. Easier said than done, of course, but true nevertheless.
    Last edited by TraineeHuman; 17th September 2022 at 21:38.

  40. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to TraineeHuman For This Post:

    Harmony (18th September 2022), onevoice (18th September 2022), Peace in Oz (18th September 2022), samildamach (17th September 2022), Wind (18th September 2022), wondering (19th September 2022)

+ Reply to Thread
Page 144 of 148 FirstFirst 1 44 94 134 144 148 LastLast

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts