Joseph Maynor

You know you're really conscious when you stop referring to other people as unconscious. Also, remember too that word goes both ways. The Ego-Mind always prefers to consider itself as the conscious one.

You asked the $1,000,000 question. I think people can be deluded by anything on the Path, so beware. The Ego-Mind wants to feel like it has the one right answer.

Yep. The talk is just there to get you to locate being and to realize that the Ego-Mind doesn't entirely define who/what you are. This allows you to release from some of the sh*tty effects of being trapped in an unenlightened Ego-Mind.

If I same after you with a sword you would figure that out really fast. That little philosophical qualm would go bye bye. Now, why is that?

TRUTH VS. BEING: I WANNA ELABORATE WHY I THINK TRUTH IS PART OF THE FIRST PART OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT PATH, THE PART OF THE PATH WHERE YOU'RE GETTING YOUR EGO-MIND ON BOARD WITH PURSUING ENLIGHTENMENT -- THEN I WANNA TALK ABOUT HOW BEING IS PART OF THE SECOND PART OF THE PATH, WHICH IS NOT ABOUT TRUTH -- THE EGO-MIND CANNOT WRAP IT'S CLINGING ARMS AROUND BEING, NOR DOES IT WANT TO ONCE BEING IS SEEN FOR WHAT IT IS -- SO THE UPSHOT IS, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT TRUTH AND METAPHYSICS, THEY'RE WORKING FROM THIS FIRST STAGE OF THE PATH -- I WANNA TALK ABOUT WHY HOLDING A CONCEPT OF BEING IN YOUR MIND CAN BLOCK BEING -- I SEE THIS IN PEOPLE WHO ARE CLINGING TO CONCEPTS ABOUT BEING -- THIS IS LIKE CLINGING TO THE CONCEPT OF EATING A MEAL VS. EATING A MEAL WITHOUT CLINGING TO ANY CONCEPTS ABOUT IT -- BEING IS A VERY SIMPLE THING IN THE SENSE THAT IT DOESN'T REALLY BENEFIT FROM CONCEPTUALIZATION -- DITTO FOR EATING YOUR DINNER, IT DOESN'T REALLY BENEFIT FROM CONCEPTUALIZATION [Writing in process]

I ALSO WANNA TALK A LITTLE BUT ABOUT MODERATION — I’VE FOUND THAT A LOT OF MY NO’S HAVE EVOLVED IN TO YES/NO’S — AND THIS ESPECIALLY APPLIES TO PERCEIVED VICES — WE DO WHAT WE DO BECAUSE THERE’S POSITIVES TO THEM — IF YOU GO YANKING AND TINKERING TOO MUCH WITH YOUR LIFE THIS CAN TURN INTO A BLOCK — SO, THIS IS A LEARNING MOMENT FOR ME THAT I HAD BEFORE BUT THIS TIME I’M GONNA MAKE IT STICK AND MOVE BEYOND IT — I’VE WASTED TOO MUCH TIME IDEALIZING CHANGE — BUT DON’T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER REGARDING CHANGE — THE CHANGE YOU NEED IS OFTEN MORE SUBTLE AND NUANCED THAN YOUR MIND PREFERS TO FRAME IT AS [Writing in process]

I'll consider this. Thanks!

And yet you still have some free will. How do you explain that?

Someone other than me made this point. Wow. The people who can't see this they just aren't ready to see it. When you're trapped in Metaphysics, you think you have the truth. You gotta go through this and come out the other side like a teenager exhausting a phase to see this, it's not something that can one can be persuaded of intellectually. Most people are way too stubborn for that, since we are invested in our own beliefs.

I think we have some free will but not as much free will as the Mind wants to think we do. And I think the wiser you get as a person, the more you take the Mind's agenda with a grain of salt and realize that until you do it, it's just a thought.

I DO A SMOOTHIE BATCH EVERY OTHER DAY, SO LEMME EXPLAIN WHAT GOES IN MY SMOOTHIES [Writing in process]

THIS IS SUCH A GREAT ALBUM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Bland

THIS IS SUCH A GREAT ALBUM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Together_for_the_First_Time..._Live https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.B._King https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Bland Album cover:

I think this Forum can be a great support group for someone who wants get help and help themselves; I know it was for me.

ONE OF THE THINGS I'M DOING NOW IS REVIEWING ALL 12 VOLUMES OF MY JOURNALS ON HERE VERY SLOWLY AND VERY CAREFULLY -- AND WHAT I WANT TO DO IS NOTE SOME THINGS THAT HAVE CHANGED AND SOME THINGS THAT HAVEN'T CHANGED IN THE APPROX. 2 YEARS I'VE BEEN WRITING JOURNAL POSTS ON HERE -- THIS IS A GREAT TIME FOR ME TO LOOK BACK AT ALL THE WORK I'VE DONE AND DO SOME BIG PICTURE ASSESSMENTS AS TO THAT WORK -- IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE HOW I'VE CHANGED AND HOW I'VE NOT CHANGED -- IT'S SO COOL THAT I HAVE A RECORD TO LOOK AT, WHICH IS WHY I WANTED TO DO THESE JOURNALS IN THE FIRST PLACE -- NOW I'M GONNA REALLY REAP THE BENEFIT OF ALL THAT WORK BECAUSE I HAVE SUCH A HUGE RECORD TO REVIEW