UnbornTao

@Whatever

"Leave me alone you weirdo, I don't even know you. Geez."

Great. My intention with that was to ground the discussion a bit.

That's a reasonable take in principle. Psychic abilities are possible but I'm not sure that connecting with a long-dead person you barely know anything about falls into that category - unless, perhaps, you're taking creative liberties with that, or are being metaphorical. Also, calling it "sainthood" already invites too much fantastical thinking. I haven't investigated this topic deeply, but what comes to mind are a powerful intuition and seemingly magical feeling-states - like sensing someone's intentions before they act. Still, these would have to be grounded in something real, such as abnormally high sensitivity or awareness, rather than mere wishful thinking. Obviously, it's not about guessing the winning lottery numbers. It's already difficult to discern what's a purely subjective experience and what's grounded in reality. Throw in the drugs, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

What do we expect them to look like? Rinzai.

You are like the therapist on the video. The belief presents itself as true - it is experienced as real, or as the way reality is. The key is consciously recognizing it as belief. Look into what a belief is.

Of course - that's the point. See above: there's a difference between the legend and the man. He was a human. Could you imagine him swearing, getting dressed, or taking a shit? Apparently, he had some anger management issues, too. For sure. I'm not saying he wasn't a profoundly enlightened guy. Then again, what do we know for sure? How much of it is historical hearsay? The gripe is with the way people relate to this whole business. It's worth checking what you actually know about historical figures. People, by and large, are followers - they want to be told how to behave and what to believe.

Ahh, thanks. Hey, I had to come up with a full sentence on short notice.

It's the Buddha - he's got the biggest ego. Regarding the segment on the mind, it's better left as something to contemplate. (Also, fancy way of saying 'I don't really know').

The fantasy and faith-based thinking does. For starters, did any of us meet Jesus? What do we know about him?

Why project annoyance when presented with a question? I mean it. Don't we all generally take our perceptions at face value? Anyway, I guess I sidetracked the thread. My contender is the sentence: @This @Koala @Isa @Loaded Shaman

Don't do drugs, kids.

@Water by the River Who, in his or her own mind, is not selling water by the river? Who's @Peeing by the River?

Emotions are an unconscious drive for people in general, although I'm not clear on what is feeling and what is emotion.

Definitely.

I know it wasn't the point; I was just sharing that little fun fact. Probably exclude Trump from the list - but leave Santa. @Carl-Richard's gaydar, of course. (for context, there's another thread where some of us joked about this.) On a serious note, the direct consciousness itself is the 'who.'

It's funny, the existence of Lao Tzu as a real historical person is uncertain, and there's no scholarly consensus on the matter.

Yeah. It's useful to start with basic facts: Jesus was a man who lived and died thousands of years ago. We readily conflate the image or legend with the individual.

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.