UnbornTao

I sympathize with that.

It's been said that the Buddha was 'completely' awakened - hard to get beyond that, as inconceivable as that is. It's also plausible that Jesus traveled to the east and studied Buddhism and yoga during his so-called "lost years." What if he was a Buddhist? Reading the Gospel of Thomas, you can see clear parallels with Buddhist sutras.

For example, why wasn't the Buddha, or Lao Tzu, the ones who did it for you?

As if one's thinking and speaking were inconsequential activities and didn't reflect one's stance. I answered 'Yes' Sorry, it was done as a joke.

Of course I've taken a side. Don't compare an individual to an entire party. And is that even true, though? If you equate Trump with any other contemporary president or even presidential candidate, you're not paying attention. Biden may have been cognitively declining, but even that doesn't trump being an immature, pathological liar - to put it mildly.

Can something that is presumably based on interaction be said to exist in and of itself? Can it stand on its own two feet, so to speak?

I've practiced Tai Chi rather sparingly. It's essentially a form of "moving meditation" and can be very beneficial for both body and mind. It's more about moving gracefully and in an incredibly relaxed way than about the specific set of movements themselves. I'd definitively recommend giving it a try. Anything can become boring if you do it for long enough.

Come on. Just consider the amount of lies he spouts, for example.

I think this video speaks directly to your obsession with trying to fit reality into a viewpoint or framework. You keep assuming that believing in something is the only way to approach this work.

He did not. His followers did. And notice: the very creation of a religion reveals their failure to directly apprehend the original communications. Just as a sidenote.

I'm saying we don't even have a clear understanding of what this "realm" is, or what self and experience actually are - let alone any real knowledge about the presumed existence of other ethereal beings. And yet, drugs can induce states where people might begin to take highly subjective experiences seriously - like believing they are all sorts of things. It doesn't help that people start calling them medicine, either. I'm not denying that such experiences may have value and power, but that doesn't make them any less invented in many cases. If your self itself is constructed, what else could be? If you're sincere, can you say with a straight face that you know who Jesus was - what he looked like, or even what he said? Most of what we have about him is secondhand. So what are we really talking about here?

Start by making a distinction between pain and suffering. You can leave pain aside for now, as it is a more advanced topic. Begin with the non-physical, mental-emotional unnecessary suffering you like to engage in habitually, and pick a minor form of that. Catch yourself in the act by paying attention to what you're 'thinking.' But you have to do the work, otherwise it's just more ineffective mental activity. And the recognition needs to be experiential! Could it be that we actually want our suffering? If so, we might as well fully embrace it and enjoy it - though doing so will likely change our relationship to it. After all, suffering is defined as enduring an unwanted experience. If we shift - genuinely - to wanting the experience, then to the degree we do, suffering cannot occur.

Bought CBD oil once or twice (organic CBD drops, I think). I vaguely remember some of its effects - like calmness and increased focus, and perhaps a certain joy or 'lightness.' But I also recall occasional mood swings, including irritability - though coffee probably didn't help with that. You might want to check out some of its potential side-effects. I prefer L-theanine.

That doesn't say much. Where are those beings? What do you mean by unseen? Didn't Jesus say that basically he's just a dude and that we are not separate from him? And what realms are there? Would it make a difference to vocalize 'Yeshua' instead of Jesus? And who's the one benefiting from that story? Do you realize what your being is?

@Anton Rogachevski And? We're waiting here.

@PurpleTree

Beyond GPT?

It's my most intimate piece. Where did you take it from? update: @integration journey Oh I see, the Quote function isn't working for that post. You can ignore my sarcasm.

@Flowerfaeiry What are spirits and what do you mean by Jesus? It sounds like it is beneficial and helped you heal, so that's great. Also, wasn't it Yeshua? Christ Sutras: The Complete Sayings of Jesus from All Sources Arranged into Sermons, by Bart Marshall - recommended read.

I suspect this viewpoint might be pointing to a potential trap we can unconsciously fall into: seeing meaning as something negative or problematic - as I mentioned elsewhere. If this is not the case here, feel free to ignore this. Regarding this negative relationship to the suggestion that meaning may be created and not found: no! Enjoy meaning. Create it, use it, and be conscious of what it is. For example, you can make your life mean a challenging adventure - one meant to grow you and others in the direction of healing, consciousness, and transformation - and to serve the truth. That would kick your ass and be beneficial in all sorts of ways. Personally, I don't want to give the impression that what was said here is the whole story - or even necessarily accurate. Believing it is irrelevant; on the other hand, what can be done is asking what meaning is - if we want to know what's true in the matter. At the same time, it's also true that, at the end of the day, we don't really care what anything is as long as it serves us - so why not be content with both options? If anyone feels depressed after reading this thread, reconsider! Listen anew.

Ayahuasca has spoken.