Ziran

Making a ritual is like making a layered birthday cake, where each and every layer is highly significant and reinforces the other layers. The key is purity of intention, not perfection. Lacking this purity the significance becomes diluted, and the ritual is weak.

"and" sequentially, or, "and" simultaneously? If it's sequential that may be an obstacle. ... because your awareness is sequential? When awareness is directed to the material form and its birth it's difficult to deny them?

IOW: Supra-rational and the source of life? yup "... come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly." She's a brick... house. LINK she makes me feel alive what makes you alive is the pulsing, the rising-and-falling, of the human soul. Chaos is built in to the system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief

IF so, big if, there will be multiple contributing constituents. No singular root cause. This is difficult for the mind to comprehend which is accustomed to linear sequential cognition. Instead, the condition is "felt", rather profoundly. The heart "understands", in plural, what the mind cannot. Further, on inquiry of the complex, the mind is uniquely disadvantaged in regard to troubleshooting the condition. As it polls the possible root causes, one at a time, it will find no contributing constituents are independently responsible. If there is motive, good reasons, for the mind to avoid considering the complex in total, it will easily default into an avoidant posture or attitude. Which can present in a number of ways. Best wishes, good luck on exams

1) Spend time with others who understand what I've been through. 2) Avoid talking about it in detail to everyone else.

That sounds difficult to me. Keeping the peace is a heavy burden. And often thankless. Maybe you're used to it. right. I can relate. If trauma is understood as a permanent engraving, it explains why, even long after the event, even after it's fully processed and compartmentalized, current events and relationships seem to fall into the troughs left behind.

heard engravings on the individual soul? No. Some do, some don't. I'm curious, to what extent do your friends and family know that you're unhappy right now? At this present juncture of your life? Do you feel the need to fake it? If so, that's a lot of work.

It's small compared to what? "Small" doesn't accurately describe it. Regardless, the effect is null because the force being measured doesn't occur in isolation. Once the other forces in the system are included, the materialists win this argument.

are you open about it in real life? friends, family? do they know?

The trauma I'm referring to can't be cured. Yes, it's remembered. It's like an engraving. Even if it's repaired, it's still there in the background. Nothing changes it. May I change the subject? maybe it's not anxiety? maybe it's adjacent? Avoidant? It seems to be a sort of "open-secret". You're not happy? At home?

Realizing the thoughts are stupid and naive is a good thing. Can you connect the stupid and naive ideas with the realization of these attributes such that they're not stupid anymore? Such that they're not naive anymore?

Maybe this is a way to make some progress towards encountering more happiness, day to day? FWIW, I struggle with feelings of loss. I know that I've lost things, people, relationships, etc. But, it's difficult for me, because, after realizing God and Eternity, the notion of loss is peculiar. Not ocd, just staying busy, busy... if the over-use of a coping mechanism is contributing, it's not a disorder. It's perfectly natural. I quoted that part because, if I recall, you've mentioned the chores and mindless tasks in prior posts.

Horoscopes and birth charts are a good way to begin an inquiry or a conversation. They're "ice-breakers", for lack of a better term. Yes, like Tarot cards, because within the system of stars and constellations there is a "full deck" of attributes and a nearly limitless number of different combinations, just like individual personalities. When an individual does a reading for another person, they are not actually reading the cards. They're allowing the diversity of cards to inspire them towards an open-mind. Reading the cards is "emptying the mind-and-heart" creating a metaphorical crucible. Then the individual reading the cards sifts through the thoughts that arise within that crucible, something-from-nothing, seeking resonance. If there is any "magic" involved, it's not coming from the cards. It's coming from the individual's heart-and-mind who is doing the reading. Their psyche is sensitive to the subtle resonance between the thoughts which arise while doing the reading and the sequence of events here-and-now, in the material world. This sensitivity to subtle resonance can present as an inborn talent. Or, more often, it's cultivated and developed as a skill. Almost anyone can do it, and most have experienced it in contra-distinction, as "discord", described by some as an "Uh-Oh feeling", or "something's not right about this." It doesn't need cards. Tea-leaves will do. Watching steam rise. Gazing at the ocean waves. Looking into the stars... The benefit of using cards or constellations is that these are somewhat arbitrary. Using these as the source of inspiration helps to reduce the impact of hidden biases and indoctrinations on the reading. This part, is definitely Woo. There is a hard distinction between material science and subtle readings. Mixing material science into it is a fool's errand. In the material realm, no two things can occupy the same space at the same time. Beyond the material all is concurrent and omni-present. If an individual is looking for information about themself from a material perspective, the best resources are medical doctors and academics. The name is purely spiritual. It isn't part of the physical realm. There's a great deal of potential possessed in the name, for help or for harm. The birthdate is less significant, but, there's a hard link between those who are born on the same date ( using a lunar calendar ). Yes, God desires to be known, regardless of whether God is considered within or without. Most succinctly, regardless of the medium, during divination, using stars, birthdates, cards, or a crystal ball, the underlying mechanism is simultaneously holding "one-and-many" within the "mind's eye". "One-and-many" simultaneously is a revelation of God. With practice, the medium becomes insignificant. The inner-experience becomes the "many", and "God" is realized as "in-between-and-surrounding" granting access to the trance state which produces the insight.

Loss and trauma are exceptions. These are permanent engravings on the individual soul. Loss and trauma are often sharply brought into focus within the stillness. Staying busy in mind and body is a coping mechanism. In isolation of other coping mechanisms, if the trauma and loss remain in focus, the mind and body become "anxious". Judy, are you coping with loss and/or trauma? If the answer is 'no', could these be hiding in plain sight?

I agree. Open ended with a rhythm. Life cycles. Ebbs and flows. I'm curious: When was the last time you did something spontaneous? How did it feel?

Nice. I love this.

It's a transitional stage of meditative cognition. The heart is "Running and Returning" like the "living creatures" in Ezekiel's vision of the heavens. The advice given, traditionally, "If your the heart is running, return it to *the-place-beyond* " which is envisioned as a distant point. Then carry on with the meditation. Alternatively, some consider these errant thoughts to be blessings in disguise. They take note of them like one would do in a dream journal. Either way, trying to avoid the thoughts usually backfires, so, just go with the flow.

In English there's two general categories of happiness: 1) "Acclaim" - this is the feeling one has when a beneficial story the individual has crafted for themself comes to fruition such that it's undeniable, "written with fire in the sky", for everyone to see. Example: designing a house, and then feeling happy when it is completed. 2) "Joy" - this is the feeling one has when a malevolent story the individual has crafted for themself flips dramatically such that the malevolent has become benevolent. Bad has flipped to good. Example: getting on a roller-coaster, slowly going up the big hill, dangling over the edge, then... whoosh you feel like you're flying not falling. Acclaim is a satisfying feeling which settles the mind-and-heart ,the psyche. Joy, in stark contrast is an arousal which unsettles the mind-and-heart, the psyche. ok Because these stories are open-ended, it's challenging to encounter either acclaim or joy. 2 ways that work for me: Transmute the anxiety into wonder. They're distant opposing extremes of the same underlying cognition. Either one can be derived from its opposing partner. In this modern world, with instant access to facts and knowledge, wondering has become discouraged. Most people don't appreciate the unknown. Unknowns are outside of their locus of control. Modern people don't like that. They want to know. Knowing makes them feel powerful. Instead, embrace the unknown as a source of awe and wonder. Find pleasure in the unknown as a source of surprise. This technique is useful because the inner-story telling doesn't need to change. It naturally cultivates joy when the unknown potential for harm/losing is replaced by unknown potential for help/gaining. Another way involves chopping up the inner-story into bite-size chunks which have distinct endings. Then, do the work to map out how to get to the endings of these bite size "side-quests" for lack of a better word. Look for opportunities to flip the script on the harmful/losing outcomes. And do the work to "stack the deck" in your favor to accomplish the helping/gaining outcomes. Specifically how? My vote? No. It's the opposite. Happiness necessarily is attached to outcome. Detachment brings stasis and a form of bliss which is like returning to the womb. Many people are seeking this due to trauma, frustration, and bafflement. But, it's not a panacea for everyone. Those who seek detachment religiously, and are devoted to it like a god, will say it's the **only** way. And it's true for them. It is the **only** way for them. Agreed. This is the distinction between happiness, in all its forms, and bliss in all its forms. Detachment is an inward-journeying. Embracing the unknown as a path towards enlightenment ( literally en-lightening the burdens of life ) is called by many a "Fool's Journey". It's out-going. It's the opposite of detachment. It's integrating/connecting. The Fool is the unexpected hero of this story. See below, in a spoiler to save space on-screen. The story is included in the Tarot pantheon/construct, but, the purpose isn't foretelling the future. The purpose is to find the Hero-Fool as it exists within oneself and others. Once it is found within the heart-and-mind, it can be called on in response to life's events, connecting them to opportunities instead of defaulting into void.

... because reality includes the improvement already. That improvement, from raising consciousness, is already included in reality. Reality is the totality of all events: past, present, and future, fantasy, fiction, myth, and the inconceivable.

It's not expanding consciousness. It's remapping sensory feedback exaggerating the certainty of a highly unlikely story they're telling about themself usually for the purpose of avoiding an inconvenient painful set of truths. If the condition developed after these events, I'm guessing the individual is trying to make sense of their circumstances ( Why me? ). They don't want to accept that the condition they're in is partially genetic, partially their up-bringing, partially chaos, partially their own poor choices, partially poor choices of others. They want their circumstances to be significant in a way which is pleasing to them. And they will do a lot of work ( usually hyper-verbal, preaching their truth ) to reinforce their version of events with their remapped sensory feedback restated and emphasized. Most people who are suffering and struggling with what most describe as "mental illness" respond favorably to regular visits with a professional regardless of the type of treatment being offered. The routine appointments help to focus on basic needs: nutrition, hydration, rest, exercise. These are almost always neglected. Here in America and in the UK, most mental health practitioners keep distant from their patient's version of events, because, speaking about it reinforces the symptoms. This can be very frustrating for the patient, but, that's conventional wisdom. Professionals don't want to be liable for making matters worse. Instead they prescribe medication, try to treat immediately urgent symptoms when they arise, and accept that the patient will likely always suffer to a degree. How much they suffer is usually attributed to compliance with their medical advice. Since most individuals who are "mentally ill" are non-compliant; the practitioners almost always are able to offset their own concerns and be satisfied with minimal effort and energy invested in bringing the patient to a full recovery. Conventional wisdom in these cases is to keep the individual calm. Don't challenge their far-fetched ideas. Often, when challenged, the individual will become violent, suicidal, or otherwise unpredictable. Conversely, engaging in conversation about the symptoms reinforces them. The result is treatment which appears to the outside observer to be "aloof". The "standard treatment" is a minimalist, hands-off, approach where it's natural to wonder: "Isn't there more that can be done to help?" No. From a spiritual perspective, in general, the rule is: "You are where your mind is." From a spiritual perspective, the afflicted is in another realm. Those techniques grant access to "other realms". Even "grounding" practices counter-intuitively draw awareness beyond the material toward their ( nearly ) infinite essence. ( Which is/are other realm(s) ). In order to help them, from a spiritual perspective, one would need to join them in the other realm where their mind is. That's not an easy task. It takes a long time, a lot of effort. What's needed are listening skills. Not spiritual practice. Yes, I've worked with an individual who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He had been in treatment for almost 20 years. He had developed the condition during his time away from home at university. We met when he was over 40. He had been asking for help from anyone who would listen, because his psychiatrist refused to discuss anything relating to his delusions. He and I worked together ( pro-bono ) for a little over 2 years. The best help that I could offer involved giving the afflicted language to better describe their inner-experience in ways which fit into his specific set of circumstances. We also worked on ways to validate his experiences without inviting negative reactions which triggered him. But, he still suffers. He wasn't cured. We haven't spoken in several years. 3, I think. We have common friends. I've been told that he's relapsed a few times.

@Breakingthewall, Thank you for sharing. It's very nice to meet you.

^^ This ^^

You're very welcome