Natasha Tori Maru

Um, how do you know that wasn't the voice of God - that sounds like the devil... I think there is a genuine possibility you are putting your own concept onto an experience, corrupting it... Also doesn't YOU torturing demons make you a demon in your mind? That is what demons do...

@Dodo Always 😂 People want to feel and have power/dominion so desperately, they will chase any way to do so.

And what were your immediate perceptions and seeings of it as a child? Before you understood what it was - which you must admit you obtained later

If you never knew of this concept of hell or the devil - do you think you would have interpretated this experience the same? It would be difficult to say you didn't use concepts already in the mind to interpret the seeing with meaning. Attributing meaning where there is none is a common issue that can lead to a lot of internal discordance and mental distress

@lostingenosmaze Do you know what the self is? It might be of assistance to define what you know/believe. Sometimes information can be presented that banks on certain foundational knowledge.

It would be interesting to hear it as break down to fundamentals Breakingthewall expressed the opinion that perception was the same as awareness. I personally disagreed there, but maybe this ties to that?

@Jacob Morres NGL I thought this was a LARP as well .... But I only suspected it due to the lack of tangible real word examples, lessons and application in the replies. I would expect more detail - but hey - that could be my own expectations shooting me in the foot

Halp

You cannot see the common elements there?

You can still make solid points and have a whole bunch of BS in between. This paragraph doesn't refute that. It is more - you wouldn't recommend some individuals on principal due to other sources being more accurate/grounded/trustworthy - AND not requiring you to waste effort sorting the wheat from the chaff. That doesn't dismiss the fact that the cases above can be excellent studies in our ability to assess and perceive truth and integrity.

Using the whirlpool analogy above you could also say: Absolute - Truth (water) is primary Relative - Whirlpool is the way the truth shows itself

@Oppositionless This is alluding to the subject-object portion of our life we are consumed with. You are the subject - the object being whatever you are witnessing (thing, thought, perception). If you remove the object from the above - you are left with just you. The subject. With nothing to focus or fixate on. Just pure awareness. Where you exist in a state of being. We call this 'empty', but all words act to simply point at what awareness is without an object to focus on. So in dreamless sleep - deep sleep - there is just this... awareness (you) with no object. This might lead to the next question - can the truth exist if we are not aware of it? All of reality arises within consciousness, or Truth arises prior to even consciousness - truth requires a witness You could say 'truth', in the deepest sense, is identity (subject) with reality (object). Consciousness, in its deepest sense, is also identity with reality. They cannot be split in my eyes, they depend on each other: truth requires a witness; consciousness requires something to be true-of. I think one cannot be more fundamental than the other. Our experience is generated by the activity of the subject (us, identity) and object (reality). Sort of like a whirlpool in the water cannot be separated from the water. It cannot exist without the water, it IS the water. Just as the water of the whirlpool makes up the whirlpool also. From the perspective of inside the whirlpool, you only ever know water as whirlpool.

Hmm, I don't think I fit this. Perhaps in the past? Not currently though. Maybe a poll would be good to gather data 😊 I begun using the forum more when general negative moods were gone. I think you speak the truth about other users though, I could just be an outlier

Like water on Teflon 😁 I acknowledged because you felt the compulsion to respond - normally there is no response at all unless some sort of feeling is provoked Plus each of us perceive things differently, and how we convey something just might not strike a chord

@PurpleTree Sorry you feel that way.

@UnbornTao no-one be picking up what no-one is putting down... or some such idiom

Do you mean like the Monroe Institute's work? I love the stuff put out. Looking into the history of brainwave frequency stuff he did, by using sound to put the body to sleep and induce OBE's, he demonstrated that conscious awareness is not confined to the bodies perception. This realization was what prompted Bob Monroe to develop brainwave frequency research further. I use brainwave frequencies when engaging in complex tasks at work that demand my total focus. I am not of the opinion it replaces meditation. They are two VERY different things in my experience. I engage in both.

It is important to recognize we all have pain and suffering. We share this human experience. And through it we generate what occurs between us as subject-subject. That unity brings forth compassion and empathy. Love. But at the end of the day, while we all have our tale of woe, it is what we DO in life that matters. The actions we take. These actions define us. I think the other factor to consider is intention VS outcome when looking at the Buddha and Hitler. Where we place weight on that spectrum will heavily influence how we view the two characters.

We be sure not to conflate pleasure and it's obtainment as happiness. Many people are not able to perceive the difference:

@Yimpa Yimpa!!! welcome back!!

Well, you 'believe' this - and I think you speak for yourself only

Wow thank you, I appreciate the share! I adore this one The dynamic movement and sunset hue really set it off. Also, the highlighting of the vanishing point to set off the planes and horizon/fields gives it that movement and flow ! I see a river to the left of the feet of the knight, and on the bank opposite, fields stretching out to meet the sunset sky

The lilt of lovely words has been unleashed to assault my visage. It dissolves into the rich horizons that make up the mind 😀 Thank you for sharing! Poetry is an art. I read it when I need inspiration. Sleep well 💤

I used to chew nicotine gum to focus when studying. Nicotine was always a powerful focus tool for me. I never picked up smoking as a habit, but one of my exes was over a pack a day. He struggled a lot with it and had success going on a medication that blocked some action so the physical craving went. He used that time to address the mental side. One thing he told me he repeated to himself 'the craving passes, whether you act on it, or not' which I thought was rather insightful He also realised the smoking was actually him taking a break from a task and changing environment. He was using it as a refresher for his brain. He had ADHD which was a factor in him smoking, as he used it to focus. I think he used 'Champix' to quit (medication). YMMV with that because there are some serious side effects, and it won't help the habitual addiction. Just the physical

What is wholeness?