UnbornTao

Stinks

Why not one of the latest M4 or M4 Pro MacBook Pro's? If you are okay with macOS and aren't going to game on it, in terms of power/efficiency, durability, and especially battery life, they're great. Also, long term software updates. But it'd have to be one with 24gb of unified RAM--it's presumably quite efficient too. I'd also consider the path Windows is going down with the invasive AI, spyware, etc.

"I'm naked on the middle of the street right now and I'm not even on LSD".

Exactly

No lasagna for you.

Low quality post. If you'd like, start a new thread but this time being clear on what you are trying to get across.

Love the passion and enthusiasm; they are contagious.

One reason a depressive-nihilistic stance toward life might be adopted is to justify one’s lack of action. What motivates this stance is a bias toward what feels agreeable and comfortable—not something inflicted upon you by circumstances or the world. Why take action when it’s far more convenient to undermine the reasoning behind any effort in the first place—except, of course, for the effort of your own undermining? You may hope or set out to find a reason, motive, or inherent meaning that moves you to act, believing such things to be discoverable somewhere, as if hidden under rocks. In doing so, what you may have actually decided is to remain complacent, pursuing immediate gratification—which, coincidentally, is not dismissed as readily as other pursuits—while avoiding confrontation and labor. This negative viewpoint keeps you comfortable, as it does not challenge your unconsciousness, passivity, or defeatist attitude. Yet this mindset is still rooted in your own agenda and “selfish” behavior. Ask yourself why you choose to adopt it—if, indeed, you do. Realizing that you are the source of this behavior is the first step toward ending it. If acting depressed is something you do, you can stop generating it. Doing so requires becoming aware of the root of the acting itself. Also, recognize that you want to experience it. Since it occurs within your own experience, it serves a purpose for you—albeit an unconscious one. Imagining a hopeless future is a key component of this behavior. To change it, either create an image of a positive future for yourself—or stop imagining a future altogether. What’s harder to notice about this disposition is that non-meaning cannot be negative. If you hear it as negative, you are still operating within the same paradigm. Likewise, meaning, as a complementary process, implies that something exists before meaning is assigned—it is added after the fact. It does not mean anything that it does not mean anything! Obviously, creating something requires taking responsibility for its actualization. It could be said that life is a blank slate upon which you can build any meaning you choose. As with play, the core motivation behind your actions could simply be the enjoyment of the process itself—playing the game mindfully, with sensitivity and awareness. This is not to say that inventions should be dismissed; they can undoubtedly provide value. So by all means, produce functional things, whatever function they’re meant to serve. Given that a game is ultimately played for its own sake, it is not treated as something that will bring about an idealized sense of personal fulfillment. This frees us to engage with it fully. Existence itself may ultimately be meaningless—like any creation. The point is to play the game wholeheartedly, master it, and, when all is said and done, put the pieces back in the box. Otherwise, you might as well enjoy your actively depressive stance—since, after all, it is meaningful to you. ---- feedback: the text feels too closed-off, making many assertive claims without elaboration or adequate explanation. Need to open it up a bit.

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Good question and a better one to ask oneself: What is greed?

Effectively, in this case no. That's what is meant by direct. The realization is the beingness of it; there is no separation. Is is you now. Therein lies the mystery. Why it occurs is just that it somehow occurs. Some people might spend their lifetimes meditating without getting very far, while another might comprehend it without much prior work or intention—or with no previous training at all, like Ramana, though he is an extremely rare case. Go figure. Then again, “why” might not apply; it’s us getting ahead of ourselves. What is it? (I’m talking about the realization itself, not the thoughts about something called “awakening.”) You're still considering it as something. It is no thing, nothing, not nothing, something, everything, all and neither. It exists in the domain of paradox. One can't grasp infinity through the mind. As a game, try to think of infinity. Now, notice everything your mind comes up with is not and can't possibility be, it. The best it can do is imagine, "lots and lots going on forever." This is a notion and as such, relative. Oh, and just to be clear, that doesn’t mean you can’t say anything about it—that’s what language is for. So, if you want a definition, it’s becoming deeply conscious of the absolute nature of you and existence. And there's no substance to it so in truth nothing to be explained. You can articulate shifts within your experience and perhaps the impact it had on your mind, but these are secondary to it, and seem as varied as there are individuals in the world. There is no position to be had. Either one grasps it or does not. Where the work needs to happen is within your experience. What we think of it makes no difference and is standing right now in the way of us wondering about it. Here, we’re having fun chatting. We find ourselves unconscious of our own true nature. Why? We just do. Everything we do occurs within the "dream", so it itself can't produce an experience of waking up. Who does? You. As we exist within it, everything we have is our experience of the dream. In this state, we encounter a paradoxical fact; everywhere we look, ourself isn't to be found. And yet, it seems that having the intention to wake up opens up the possibility for it to occur. That is contemplation. Is the event of waking up caused by what preceded it within the dream? From within the dream, it might appear that way. Having awoken, though, whatever action was thought to be the catalyst, is recognized to have been part of the dream. Independent from all that, somehow "you" woke up. Have you heard of the koan Mu? That’s the ultimate “answer,” and appropriate here. Mu

@Razard86 Edited my response above a bit. All you talk about is relative.

What would it take for you to generate your own feedback? One thing that comes to mind is becoming increasingly aware of your own thought processes and actions throughout a given process. What are you actually doing? Where are you directing your attention? What does the process demand from you that you currently fail to perceive? What could you do more gracefully? Increase your conscious sensitivity of every aspect of your experience by paying attention - you could start with your body, since it is a grounded, objective perception.

@Razard86 Too much "this and that" and asserting things. Things like "there is more than one absolute" are BS. It is clear to me that is not coming from a breakthrough. You can take it as it is.

@Razard86 That's a bunch of intellectual ideation, you are not clear on your nature.

It's a tricky situation. Essentially, talk him out of it. I don't know the person, and this isn't therapeutic advice. I could point out that this ideation might be based on a desire for acknowledgement, or on a belief that one's emotional pain is unbearable for oneself. This isn't true. Maybe bring up situations when you've felt similarly to him, and tell him they just pass and life moves on. Show him he's stronger than he thinks. Situations of that nature can be used as lessons in many ways. But suicide itself is an act of cowardice, and rather foolish. Maybe getting grounded and detaching oneself from the circumstances help him see the situation more dispassionately, impersonally, free of so much drama and turmoil. Just some thoughts.

As an exercise, practice making new, finer distinctions within your experience of aromas and the sense of smell. Use the following documents to learn about learning, and to integrate principles such as correction and feedback into your life: fragrance-analysis - Unknown.docx fragrance-terminology - Unknown.docx

Tried to polish up my post above. You take it to be something, perhaps a result of a process, or a hidden, inaccessible piece of knowledge lying somewhere. Certain things seem to help (but aren't a requisite), yet why it happens is an unknown. Perhaps the notion that it is something to be triggered reflects my point that it is considered relative--but I'm nitpicking. I'm going to be even more pedant now. It is a sensible question to ask and sounds coherent on paper, but is based on flawed assumptions. See above. That said, while we are not enlightened, we are going to be engaged in something, doing something. So, contemplating--being open and wanting to get it--seem to help. It is rare, but not impossible, that a breakthrough falls on your ass. Yet again, why this happens is a mystery--there's no causal relationship (there is nothing really), and it is "done"--the insight occurs. Because it doesn't "happen", and why relates to motive, function, purpose, which are invented and applied. Being is as itself already, rather than a result or occurrence, which are relative. At this point, someone like Rinzai could point the way. Believing decreases wanting to inquire into things, in this case your nature. Consider for example how we tacitly live as if our perception were an accurate reflection of objective reality. If we were to experience that as something presumed, we'd be more open to questioning it. But we don't, and so we keep on operating from such presumption. We can see that belief isn't just a thought that you hold as part of your internal dialogue--they can show up for us as reality. Again, are they recognized as beliefs, which implies recognizing that they are not the truth, nor can they be? If or when they are recognized as such, then I don't have a problem with that. In another context, believing yourself to be a capable person, for example, is immensely valuable and positive. You might as well believe yourself to be worthless and live as if that were true. However, both of those are beliefs, not the truth of you. Our main assumption is that our beliefs are mostly cognized by us--yet most of them are just assumed--they are reality for us. This is the point that's easily missed. I think you're considering one particular category of beliefs, that of consciously adopted ones. Assumptions are the most profound of all. The trick lies in recognizing them as such, in a deeply experiential way. From that, increased openness radically empowers your capacity and willingness to question stuff. Depends on the practice, and whether they are "going after" it instead of merely going through the motions. But it isn't about how much time a technique or ritual is followed, or about the practice itself--the practice at best provides direction and focus for the mind. That said, likely the one who is more open. Belief, or the way it is held in one's mind, effectively displaces an experience of openness. Luck doesn't apply; I'm saying we don't know why it happens, and yet it does. A bit like living as a dream character, doing this and that, and all of a sudden waking up from the dream.

I'm not saying lying or self-dishonesty has to be deliberate or conscious; it's just that things might get over our heads, and to varying degrees. Be open. We might think we apprehend the nature of something while in reality we concluded, believed something, etc., and confused these acts with perceiving whatever is true. Just a reminder.

Sounds good. Make sure that that is a true statement for you.

It is about one's relationship to beliefs. Also, most assumptions aren't recognized as such, but are subliminally-held and these make up how we experience reality--like fish in water. Observe how belief tends to close people off, as it effectively displaces openness. Acknowledging their beliefs as beliefs is difficult for people, much less questioning them, as this inquiry, done sufficiently deeply, would invalidate their reality. They'd have to admit that their cherished convictions are but affectations, intellectual indulgences adopted from without in order to make up for their unwillingness and incapacity to experience things for themselves. What if your self (what you take yourself to be) is itself an assumption? This is how deep this belief business goes. About the realization, you hold it as relative, as a process. You think there is something there, or a "there" to be found, as if under a rock, or in the depths of our unconscious minds. It is a sudden event, and why it occurs is a mystery to me--not sure it is even possible to know that--you just do it, you make a leap in consciousness. You could get enlightened while walking the dog or cooking a lasagna. In this context, I was taking knowledge to be direct apprehension of what is true. Such recognition is true in so far as the depth of it goes--assuming it is authentic. "Knowledge", then, is everything else that is indirect--a product of mind and perception. I might be leaving some of your points unaddressed.

It might be a emotional state or disposition that is generated when, after having sufficiently met your needs and wants, you cling unnecessarily to the pursuit of more for its own sake, hoping it will fulfill something it cannot--such as emotional needs, a longing for meaning, intimacy, or recognition. Regardless of that, What is so-called greed when experienced for oneself? For example: What about the functional pursuit of money might eventually turn into a "greed" relationship?

@Razard86 You try to defend your position so firmly, it makes me think that you might be speaking from intellect rather than personal, experiential insight. Why the strong, even defensive, assertiveness? If at this moment the truth is unknown, better to acknowledge that. That helps us investigate with fresh eyes, or in a new light.