RevoCulture

@Lento Salve for the soul, thanks... An invitation to walk, head up & heart open, tear in the eye and slight tremble in the bones..... This shadow that dances around me with a grace that haunts and taunts me, or is that my own faceless distorted perspective. What is it that this figure is attempting to convey, it never leaves it seems to love me so. Maybe today is the day I will sit faceless and give form to my mysterious friend.

@lmfao Yummy.. That was tasty.. Thanks so much for that... They do block don't they. Instead of attempting to creatively craft sentiments and explore, a person can just throw on the ole paradoxical quip and be done with it. Slap on quip, there we go another thread shut down, another person denied, score one for my super intelligence that has no real idea what the quip means in the depth of its origin. I perceive the Zen quip thing as a stage too, I went through it. This place where the paradoxes are starting to bewilder the mind and then the ability to demonstrate spiritual intelligence to others by wrapping up, putting to bed, owning a conversation by throwing on a nice think layer of paradoxical sealant. I do chuckle when I see it, awe.. isn't that cute... Seems like some people get stuck in this stage and others continue to grow and find ways to expand conversation with new knowledge, new potential and they aren't as interested in sealing it up as they are in exploring and expanding... Can you feel the intent behind them sometimes? Sometimes a quip coming from a place of compassionate love sits very nicely, maybe garnished with just enough additional insight to direct, satiate satisfactorily. Then there seems to be the ego inflated harsh mockery quips, ones that jab you in the heart and steal the beauty that was being nurtured. I was watching a Krishnamurti video clip yesterday... Back around 1910 and the line that grabbed me... People are seeking comfort, not understanding. Isn't that precisely dealing what we are dealing with here. People who want the comfort of "I know, I see, I have the answer, I feel smart, I feel dominate, I feel in control" They aren't exploring the topic, they are showing humility, they are not seeking understanding... Again, stages... The deeper truth that all is within all leads back to the place that even through the lack of effort made to connect and understand through dialogue by using these Zen like quips... it is still seeking understanding... education through periods of gross ignorance and selfish pride & arrogance. It is all part of the game.. It is all learning.. So tricky to be consciously compassionately critical of the framework through which we educate and congregate with the intention of driving the collective further... Thanks for sharing... Posts like yours have a feeling to me... I am on a cliff looking down over a vast and deep body of water... the water is welcoming me through the words, vision, meaning, & comfort of your expression.. Your expression is the water.. I dive headfirst and become embraced by the waters, welcomed as friend.. I swim through the verbiage, I drink, and I feel part of something I know as myself... Blessings..

@Stakres There is a solid body of work from my limited understanding, part of where this deterministic line of thinking is rooted, that says they can with high accuracy tell you what hand you are going to lift before "you" know it. You can choose to lift your right hand but in a measurable about of time the decision was made before "you" made it. I was listening to the audio for a book on habits and they were testing chimps on behavior and it starts to head down this line of thinking as well. For me, as an uneducated student of advanced science, they question is if life is only material and we can take a reducationist approach then this is what it is. I am interested in truth not in a particular outcome. But, if life has others components to it, such as life isn't driven and determined solely by the material plane, then maybe reality is 100% determined by the material reductionist understanding. Fun to kick around... Thanks for playing.. Addictions.. whoa.. those are not as fun to kick around.. tough beasts...

@Shiva I am basically typing what has been typed before but if you are truly interested.. This is your comment to the thread topic "mmhhh... what qualifies as "knowing" and how do you know for sure that you know something?" This is your signature text: Knowing is not enough. We must apply. Willing is not enough. We must do. In your message you are doing what, unfortunately, others do and making this zen like quip... this paradoxical point.. "how can YOU know "knowledge, it can't be known and on and on" It is a weak form of discourse but we all offer what we have.. So you signature text claims that you know what "knowledge" is or at least have defined idea and from that position the rest of the "we must apply etc is carried forward..."... so you have a definition of knowledge because you are smart and the topic starter is being questioned by you as to their ability to know... There is no humility, no honor, no sensitivity, no kindness, no attempt at dialogue. Sad.

@Shiva I think this is your third reply and not one has attempted to address what has been said. Another classic move, deny, deny, deny, don't acknowledge, it will eventually go away.... Knowing isn't enough, we must apply. When we see our error it isn't enough, we need to own it, we must apply ourselves. When you get a chance maybe do @K VIL a kindness and offer that definition of knowledge you have in your signature text so he can reevaluate your comment about how he can't know what it is... obviously you do. we are all in this together.. my interest is in keeping things honest and fair.

@Shiva We are faced with one of two options. 1) you don't have the mental capacity to recognize what couldn't be more clear or 2) your spiritual pride is so high that it won't allow you to acknowledge what is so clear. What we know is.. It is clear. Always a classy ego cover up move, offer a sassy comment back at the person who is pointing something out like "but next time I can append a glossary to my signature text if that helps." As if the issue is a glossary that is needed to understand the definition and NOT in the person questioning another person's ability to define knowledge which sits in direct conflict with sensitive ego person's signature text saying I know what knowledge is. The paradox & irony game will come back and devour you every time, you can't wield it as a tool to cut other people down and come out ahead. What would help is some humility and honesty. In this forum we need to keep each other honest and humble and when snarky Zen quips are being thrown out that don't do much of anything for anybody with the exception of the ego inflation it provides to the person who thinks "whoa, I just nailed that one, look at the paradoxical skills and spiritual illumination I used", then we should be stepping up and questioning the people using them. You are probably just in that stage, we all go through it. And I have notice A LOT of it in this forum. It makes me laugh, I remember those days and I wish I would have had someone assist me through that phase a little faster. All good.

@Shiva The starting point our your tag is knowledge, which requires a definition to even begin walking through the steps. You must define what knowledge is to even considering if it is 1) good enough and 2) how you will apply. Your comment to @K VIL , which starts out snarky and rude by some people's standards is.. "mmhhh... what qualifies as "knowing" and how do you know for sure that you know something?" And now are you trying to back peddle away from owning your actions by redirecting to "this is a different topic".... Sorry, we all see through.. and.. its ok you are human and you get caught up like all of us. Its ok to admit it..

@Shiva Your tag line says "knowing is not enough. We must apply." You must have a definition of knowing, yes? or is the tag meaningless to you and just looks cool maybe?

Would seem like absolute knowing would be on one side and absolute not knowing would be on the other... (technically there might be some infinitesimal percentage to stay out of the unified field, close to absolute lets say)... They are both expressions of life and every step in between... Isn't life in the full scope amazing, all the aspects that make it what it is, aren't they amazing? I like to think that everything is amazing... and then... there is my ego experience and the challenges it has to go through and it wants to base value off from what something does for me, how it serves me, how it makes me feel.. which is totally cool.. no worries.. but it often skews my sense of value.. Feel like I am in a space where I won't really no everything and I can't unknow what I know... so I am kinda going to have to keep moving forward... cause I can always learn more... which is sometimes a matter of unlearning... oh like you cosmic jokester.. got me again..

@Dingo Love it.. "Though, my concern is about artistic beauty, as I do see great value in spending time in presence of items/works, which demanded great creative talent." I may have some of the details mixed but.. I believe artistic expression hit such a high degree of refinement and practice in the East that a new movement was birthed.. It is possible this is where Wabi Sabi came from... It is possible to see the same "demanded great creative talent" through different lenses. I love walking and staring at the gravel or cracks in surfaces. There isn't much in life that can't be marveled. I find that humans heavily locked within duality need drastic comparisons to find a sense of rapture or marvel. They need to see something rare, or something defined as amazing by the collective. Granted there is no doubt that talent derived through commitment, practice, intuition, and raw ability is a marvel unto itself. But for the mind that has been blown open there isn't much that can't be held with such amazement! Cheers..

@WelcometoReality The quote you provided came out of the reply at the bottom, to provide context to any reader... When I read the quote snippet you provided I was like "did i say that I did that?" "seeing through ALL illusion, I no longer have a preference, only acceptance"... "holy shit, I'm an asshole" hahaha but.. I found snippet in the reply, below.. Previous Quote: The irony I found in practice of the esoteric teachings is... That what we think brings us happiness tends to be attachment and that isn't true happiness, that happiness lies in the reunification with the whole. Merging with the whole is seeing through all illusion where there is no longer a preference, only acceptance. Desiring happiness or averting suffering is actually the dualism game and the only way through is to unify the halves and see that they are actually the same... When we see that the attachment to happiness is suffering and that not avoiding the suffering is contentment we become whole again,,, If that makes any sense.. I was describing the path as I have come to know it. Like the idea of enlightenment, being a process, an ever awakening process where enlightenment is continuously occurring and in addition to the awakening enlightenment, absolute / final / total enlightenment. To see this process happening, to feel it, to witness, to be it can afford one to carry out the foregone conclusion. Is it truth, not sure, but it seems to hold water from other sources and my own personal experience. The idea of merging with the whole is the same process to me, it may even be nested within enlightenment, or is the process of enlightenment. You don't have to understand ever component on the car to drive it, to use it. You may know every component but not the components that make the components or you may know every component of every component but not know the manufacturing process.. carry this on.. I believe the duality / non duality gig which is a crucial component in the merging process is like this.. It isn't an all or nothing game, it is a phasing game. And you can know something without entirely knowing it, and you know that you only know a portion of something but what you know puts in in a drastically different space by comparison to someone acting, speaking, living through another understanding or paradigm. What I was eluding to in this statement, the thing questioned / commented on; I can speak to as a process. I have been consciously working with this process as a phasing within understanding/learning about duality in conjunction with human psych and emotion in conjunction with proposed fundamental reality and/or the position within it we inhabit. ( A person is going to need to want to connect with me through intention versus being on a spiritual warpath of "lets crucify" based on statement accuracy...) In a nutshell, my experience.. The idea that anything is something in isolation, that it can be pigeon holed into a category in the subtler level of meaning has been / is being pulled out from under me. Especially when it comes to labels like right and wrong, good bad.. Tricky thing though.. They still are used and applied but in a different light... Basically it like this, I start out locked in duality, then through a few decades of dedicated work I somehow break through to a non-dual space (does decades or dedicated work have anything to do with reaching non-duality, no they don't, this is just my story), and then after experiencing something that I thought was incredibly challenging, and it was, I come back to the place I was before but with a new interpretation of how duality is to be perceived and how it is now to be applied.. and holy smokes, i'll be.. this new application and moving forward is probably tougher than the piercing of duality... (I said pierced duality / non dual.. I didn't master, I am no master.. I have not completed anything. I am not qualified by anyone or anything.. I am just a dude.. a regular guy.. basic.. doing what everybody else is doing, seeking and searching.. I can say this for certain, I am not fully enlightened.. not even close... keep things real) With that said.. I love all my developmental pysch levels, from beige to on up in the Spiral D format). I act out, engage with, from each and everyone of these stages and in various states... i think part of the piercing experience shone a new light perspective on what is desirable to me.. since the high became low and the low became high.. I now see equal value in all of them and how the fit together, build upon one another.. When i walk into an experience I hear evaluations and projections for the various stages at the same time... For the longest time I, along with so many other seekers I knew and know, where trying to "transcend" aspects of ourself, to silence thoughts, to negate things... and then I had experiences that showed me they all are cherished beautiful reflections and that I would always be all of them and that they shouldn't be silenced and shit on, belittled and demeaned... they had a home, they were welcomed, and I am their guardian... they no longer get to run the show, and sometimes they hijack the system and others I need them to show up upon request... That is when my eyes are open... I have another world when I take my seated position.. These world are separate but the same, they are one another but they take the stage at different times in different ways.. i am honored and humbled to serve within this body, to be a part of the dance, to be ignorant in more ways then I am wise, I am child of the universe, I am my own parent, I am the totality, but the majority of my time is spent in a waking state lost in the wonder of illusion, unfolding & enfolding, is ok with me, this is part of my experience.. this is my experience and I share as an exercise to express myself, this is not to be taken as something someone else should do, or that it is the right thing to do.. it is how reality has spoken to me... Journey Strong.. Mahalo..

The "illusion" of the "negative" expressions in life have a proportionate relation to the "illusion" of "positive" expression of "happiness" and "peace". They are two sides of the same coin. People are quick to talk about the illusion of the shadow and then promote the light... lol. As if you can separate them. I like ask should I praise the dark for giving life to the light, or, should I curse the light for giving life to the dark? Two ends of the same stick. People who tend to be so pro-positive are actually vehemently anti-negative, they are only blinded to this fact by their own obsession, their self-righteous proclamations. What is positive about being filled with a great disposition against "negativity"? You can't be pro anything without being anti the other. (someone might try to make an argument for being non-dual as being pro but how can something non-dual be one if there is no other?). We see all around us people who are pro-positive lashing out against all things that don't represent their definition of positive, this isn't being positive, it is biased, divided, aggressive to all things outside its "acceptable" actions. These forum topics seem to be loaded with people lashing out against "negativity" because they seem to think it is an either or question. You just pick one or the other. Maybe it is a layered reality and it isn't either or? Maybe there are stages and states that need to be navigated and experienced? Maybe we can be opposing realities all at the same time? Maybe while we are experiencing both "positive" and "negative" at the same time we are also experiencing no emotional or judgmental attachment to any of it all at the same time? Maybe we can be it and not be it at the same time? I don't believe any of us want "negative" experiences for anyone in the forum, we don't want pain and suffering. Is denying aspects of life, the great developmental process, is that "positive" or is the lack of acceptance and ability to see how it all belongs, how it all fits, maybe that is "negative". Maybe preaching division through "preferential positivism" bias isn't so positive? Maybe our actions, like the "positive" cheerleader, is conscious development highlighter that points out where we are. Bottom line.. I feel for people who are expressing distress in their life.. These people who are in the mix, on the journey, and maybe need to be heard, have some people connect with them... AND... then per normal they get blasted with some ultra positive verbiage (often coming from people whose lives aren't what is being preached and is closer to what people are expressing)... "Positive" messages are good and belong in the mix and are appreciated but maybe some humility and connection in mud might be nice too...

@Pramit "For which, I will agree with Daniel Hoffman in saying that, no, it is not." Hoffman... Interesting work he and his team are doing...

Mine varies depending on my mood and which one of the voices is in control at the moment...

@Yog Thanks for posting... Really enjoyed that! Powerful art, expression, introspection.. The lo-fi beat is fat and beautiful.. The graphics, yes... all yes yes yaasssssssss Touched on so many themes, and if flowed together so nicely.. ugghhhhh so good... so good... thank you so much for sharing..

@Nahm Poem just written entitled.. All In Good Fun.. I was here, until I was no longer I lived but the dream fell into slumber My stomach ached but that was an echo in my mind I used to elucidate and pontificate Until I found clever language that allowed me to obfuscate I would detail pages of thought for some to read and quickly turn To another dripping dialect and exclaim let go & empty cup After all what is the good In being clever if you can't control the game Let go... Let go.. Let go...

@RickyBalboa "I'm currently part of the latter group as I'm a coward who fears repercussion for being %100 honest and bold about who I am." I am not a fan of negating people's experience or expression. I like to acknowledge the space they are in and say.... AND.. in addition to that... So I can relate to your humble and vulnerable sharing, thank you for that.. AND.. in addition to that.. Is it possible that when you learn something, see something, start to become something new and it changes the conscious fabric of your being that there is an awkward period of adjustment... you gotta figure out what is this new thing, how do I feel, what does it mean, where do i fit in now.. what do I do.. Life was all in order, my friends, my daily routine, my perspective... and now... everything has been shuffled.. I am not the same person, I don't fit in the same way I once did, people don't understand me, I don't know if i want to participate in the things i once did.. If you have engaged in this process you may feel like a coward when you think of what needs to still be done.. but I assure you... you my friend are the exact opposite of what a coward is. you have left the herd, you have venture out beyond what the programming of society has offered, you are a pioneer, you are brave and bold.. you are a seeker... don't confuse the weight, the moments of loneliness, the despair that can come in waves as cowardly.. it is part of the process and you have the right to feel proud... You don't have to explain yourself, no need to convince anyone else as a form of reassurance.. they can be themselves and you can be you.. it is ok to go with their flow.. who you are at your core is going to vibrate into the space, the way you carry yourself, the reality you see and carry in your heart is going to affect everyone around you.. no verbal convincing needed.. and along the way you will find your tribe.. you will get situated... and the dark feelings will come and go as they do for all of us seekers... you have this forum if you need someone to hear you out.. connect in the struggle.. Peace.. we family.. in this together..

@Hatfort Bravo.. Clap Clap.. Enjoyed the read Hatfort! Thanks for sharing, delicious and nutritious, soul food.

@Hatfort Hatfortttttttt reeling it in... you keep doing what you do.. loving it... its all part the process right? lets take that step so we can take the next one... why, cause that is what we do.. haha.. check this little nugget out... what if "war" that conflict is an expression that continues to refine itself on more and more subtle levels.... the "war" is outside of us with others... and then slowly through our movement in state and stages the "war" becomes a subtle interaction with our own self.. overcoming the ignorance and actions that stimulate "war" outside.. Its like "war" never ends it just transmutes itself into subtler and subtler actions of engagement.... it doesn't even look like war to most people, they wouldn't even consider it to be so.. but on very subtle level it is incredibly loud, explosive, engaging, energies pulling and pushing, fight for attention.. inside every person the red is toying with the blue.. the orange is banging into the green, a full blown war of competing expression inside every person as they work towards tier 2, the ability to see all at once.. to calm the strom, to bring the inner war to a peace agreement and the movement into tier two begins.. the next chapter.. Obviously this can get twisted and some people would be like, "that's not war when you are working internally"... I would say... maybe I'm doing it wrong... cause it is crazy in here... ahah.. struggle, conversations, determination.. denial.. cracking things open.. puting things to bed.. full on battle of awakening... ahaha I'm playing around...

@The Don Totally appreciate your insights and sharing... Think Leo might have been saying that not everyone should feel the pressure to have children. That is ok to not have children and make your impact in other ways. There are other ways to "have children" in the world. We can spread our DNA or our thoughts our ideals and they are like children or DNA and make an impact. There are plenty of people who have children because of social pressure or a blind belief that it is what needs to happen. Arguably no one wins from this position. Last couple books i was reading Steven Pinker Enlightenment Now and Hans Roslings Factfulness - both highlight what you are saying.. I believe we are targeted for 11 billion on the plateau... With increased education, reduction in poverty, access to resources family size reduction.. If your model of progress is exponential and continuous growth then maybe there is a worry about a tapering population. But, if a person is interested in long term viability of the planet and human participation through continued existence than maybe ideas like carrying capacity and quality of life deserve more attention that higher production numbers. Each to his own. One thing is for sure, nice to read about how living standards around the globe, health, access to resources are continually improving.. right? cheers.. journey strong..

@Hatfort Count me in, I love me some culture... I am all about the evolving spinning spiraling expression... I am on board with the idea that we need to drive into it not away from it.. refine it, not retreat... radical honesty.. radical transparency.. radical acceptance... accountability.. trial and error.. spin baby spin... go @Hatfort

@Stakres I remember him having a strong behaviorist background, a material reductionist... question for your reflection... when he says that there is no free will and that there is no reason to hate and that we need to forgive more... is that his desire for free will and choice in conflict with no free will... if life is deterministic and governed by biology and we have no choice.. and to turn around and so straight face say that since this is true we need to make the *choice to not hate and practice forgiveness.... isn't that in conflict within itself? Naturally I am all for less hate and more forgiveness but... if he says we need to... isn't that a choice then and not a function of reductionist behavioral action? *choice I added for emphasis Thanks again.. i want him to be in my family.. or my friend.. he is so sweet and comfortable..

@Stakres Nice post.. I have enjoyed other material of his... he has some on depression too I think.. going to listen to the one you posted.. thanks again..

@OmniYoga OMG .... My being, my ego, my person, my whatever enjoyed this post so much...... Truly.... It was like soul candy... Like standup cosmic comedy... do more.. do more... please.... I wish I could offer something other than my applause... Oh wait... what if this was part of the bit... **This is satire** fair warning... I am poking fun.. If you are easily upset maybe don't read... and while your at it don't think of purple elephants either... lol.. ** I am not familiar with the course materials, just the secret and some stereotypes that fit the story being told... My following bit isn't intended to serious account of value or lack of... Just a moment to enjoy a laugh at all the seriously not serious serious attempts to master it all.. thanks for giving me a moment to play.. so you doing your delivery and then something like.. So finally after a solid 40 hours of instruction i finally got to the secret of letting go... it was so simple all along... basically you take the course materials.. you circle your trash can counter clock wise three times, bow 3 times.. 180 rotaton.. circle 4 times to unwind, 4 bows and then.... let go... just drop all the materials into the circular wormhole of modern material transport & environmental degradation... From here you are free to accept what comes your way.. Free to engage the world and pave a new path... Just let go...