Have You Studied The Ox Herding Pictures? What Do You Think About Them? Which One Describes Where You Think You're At?

[Joseph Maynor]

SET ONE:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/weai/exeas/resources/oxherding.html

SET TWO:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/mzb/oxherd.htm

Placement -- In Set One: I feel like I'm at "VIII. Both Bull and Self Transcended"

Edited October 13, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[Nahm]

 nice read. nostalgic ?❤️

[Girzo]

I am somewhere in-between picture I and picture II. After two years of knowing about enlightment I finally start to feel a desire towards the Truth.

[Brimstone]

Who isn't stage 10 in the first series? 

[Heart of Space]

42 minutes ago, Brimstone said:

Who isn't stage 10 in the first series? 

Every single person who posts, has posted, or ever will post in this forum.  

[Brimstone]

Why limit it to just people who post @Heart of Space ? 

After all who isn't of this world? Even if you think you are not you can not deny the fact that you are here. You can't 'think' yourself out of existence.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Brimstone

[WelcometoReality]

@Joseph Maynor Seems like a pretty accurate description of the journey. At least for the stages I've reached.

[Brimstone]

@Shiva that isn't entirely true, what dies is your ignorance and your attachment to a singular view. In that moment where past lives coming flooding back you see them for what they are, not my story, but Story, never owned by 'you'. All the heros and villains that were ever perceived are also seen as part of Story with it crystal clear that all are pointing towards the exact same thing, and that there actually are no heros and villains, as life simply is as it is. Truth resonates in absolutely everything and points towards the one True reality. As a result you outwardly become a soft and gentle being of tremendous grace. People and things that used to irritate you or you them, lose all currency, as you effortlessly make people feel at ease through naturally inviting joy into their heart through your soft and gentle being and words. Your life becomes about serving others, not yourself basically. 

It is of little relevance whether you believe me or not to be honest as it is just a story, although I have been quite honest that the being aspect eroded after some time through desire and an attachment to the very story that set me free. Nothing changes the fact though that what is seen is that everything has a place and is in perfect order with the unfolding of That as existence, which is why most don't get to the home plate cause they are too caught up in the correctedness of their own view. It does make perfect sense though why we all think our view is 'the view' as simply put it is, we are exactly where Nature intended us to be, in every breath we take.

Namaste

 

[Brimstone]

Yeh, I wondered and thought you meant that @Shiva . I hadn't actually heard of that happening to be honest, although I imagine death to be very enlightening 

[Dodo]

Im at step 1 or 0

[Dodo]

4 minutes ago, Shiva said:

Yes, but I don't know for sure if that can happen to be honest. But we're talking about stage 10 here. Stage 6 and 7 already seem like enlightenment to me. I wonder if I'll even get there in my lifetime...

Sadhguru sometimes says that it is possible to die if your energies become too weak (natural death of old age), but also if your energies become too intense so that this body is no longer suitable to contain this life.

It frightens me if I think about it. 

Ye but imagine the epic alien bod u will have with all that energy... Perhaps you will have 2 hearts and wings. Epic!

But everyone else around will also be just as epic and u won't even notice how cool it is ?

[Brimstone]

Lol @Shiva , awesome. Just find that unicorn and ride it home, oh that's right you have wings to fly, so just soar like an eagle if that is your thing.

@Shiva if anyone has ever died from becoming enlightened they would not be able to tell the story right. Level 10 is 'in the world', not in the 'grave', it points to the fact that when all is said and done, we are all in this together, enlightenment being a slight change of perspective, we are all this together. 

[Joseph Maynor]

HERE'S SOME SELF-INQUIRY FODDER! -- DO THE WORK, DON'T JUST SIT ON YOUR ASS ACTING LIKE A CHILD

What is the Ox?  What is the Oxherder?  What is the relationship between the Ox and the Oxherder?  What does it mean to transcend the Ox?  What does it mean to transcend the Oxherder?  

I'll do it too.  This is how we learn.  Learning is behavior change and observation.  Learning is takeaway.  Just reading like you are studying some scripture (or science haha) is not learning.  It's in through one ear and out the other.  You can actually observe that!  LISTEN: Most reading is in through one ear and out the other.  This doesn't mean it is non-useful -- but be mindful of what you actually retain from what you read; what you obtain.  A lot of studying is wasting your time.  The Mind feels better, but what have you gained?  What have you truly learned?  What is learning?  You gotta inquire into this yourself.  YOU gotta look into it!  Stop trusting your beliefs on faulty epistemological footing.  This is what self-inquiry is all about, what it cures.  You are going from trusting others to deriving all your beliefs yourself.  It's the pathway to finding your authentic self.  This is the Summum bonum of personal development work.  Derive all your beliefs all over again now that you are a smart adult -- you'll have a couple few surprises!

Video to watch on point:

 

Edited October 15, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[Brimstone]

Exactly @Joseph Maynor 'What' is learning? 'What is observing? It isn't a thing so it isn't a 'what', which is why most people get stuck on the path think it is this or that. That dissolves every concept.

In a nutshell, the ox, the ox herder, the relationship between the ox herder and the ox, transcending the ox, are all Concepts. The constant is the only Truth, and That isn't an Ox herder. You are the Ox herder, so transcending the Ox herder is basically transcending your self and what you think it all means. That is the end game. Once the veil lifts you are still 'in this world', and you have acceptance of your place within the divine order of the Absolute.

Yes, learning is taking away, yet we tend to add so much, we become attached to ideas, we become attached to concepts, all the while the Constant remains, as it is, right here, right now, in this very moment, it is just how it is. What is the Constant, is what you should be asking? Not this concept is the answer, The Constant is the only unchanging aspect. Stop looking for answers in concepts Joseph, find the Constant, and then it will all make sense.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Brimstone