Playing with Perspectives

[UnbornTao]

Less inauthenticity is more you. Recall your experience as a kid when you were naturally more authentic, before you got completely stuck in the social domain. It's a freeing and joyful experience--more present, alive, open--and yet, that is a result of becoming less, of dropping pretense, of letting go of anything that isn't aligned with your most honest experience of you right now, whatever that is.

Edited 18 hours ago by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Quote

No matter what a deluded man may think he is perceiving, 
he is really seeing Brahman and nothing else but Brahman.

- Shankara

 

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

An activity is not existential in itself--it is not an object and doesn't exist independently but as a relationship. Humans create communication, success, mastery, shame, boredom, sports, effectiveness, and society.

What exists independently of activity?

Edited Friday at 01:12 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

For form to be recognized, we must allow for its non-existence. We notice "apple" thanks to "not-apple." We're aware of the apple because we're aware it's not a banana, and we distinguish the air around it as "not-apple." That something comes to exists as that particular thing is dependent on not-that-thing; these distinctions arise together.

Said with different words: a "thing" gets to be recognized by what is not-that-thing. 

Want to expand on this and polish it up a bit.

Edited yesterday at 12:38 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

A prevalent social fear seems to be that of being found out, of being seen through, of having one's “soul” looked at. It is the fear that others might recognize that, at our core, we may be living as though we are, in some way, broken, incapable, or worthless. This fear may partly explain the urge to present ourselves in a less-than-straightforward way.

Perhaps, based on this fear, we as a society don't feel like we can be truly authentic.

Edited Friday at 04:10 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

[UnbornTao]

Being mature as a person isn’t a given. We’ve all encountered people who don’t seem to have grown beyond adolescence--at least in certain ways--and this, too, applies to ourselves. Likewise, you’ve probably come across someone you’d describe as “mature.” But what is maturity, really?

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

How can “knowledge” create ignorance?

A belief is not an experience of the reality of something. Belief often masquerades as understanding and is frequently mistaken for personal experience or insight. Our core assumption, of course, is that our beliefs are true!

But why investigate anything at all when you already “know”?

Like a closed circuit, belief confines your mind to your current worldview and conclusions, making it difficult to see beyond their boundaries. It undermines openness, which is a crucial ingredient in any genuine inquiry.

This dilemma can be resolved by eliminating every disempowering belief you hold. Begin by recognizing that, in truth, you do not know--and dwell in that. From this realization, wonder arises, and with it, the possibility of true discovery.

Edited Friday at 05:00 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

[UnbornTao]

 

[UnbornTao]

Culturally, we tend to think of decision-making as choosing from a predetermined set of options. But this isn't quite accurate.

Making a decision is a creative act. You make a decision--you don’t just stumble upon it. You are responsible for creating it.

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

An invention doesn't have to be "true" for it to work.

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Work on creating a purpose for something--not just intellectually, but experientially.

Now, make up an empowering purpose for your life, one that is truly worthwhile to you. This purpose will encompass a sizable portion of your life’s activities and provide you with a sense of direction, among other benefits.

Ask yourself questions such as:

1. What do I want to commit myself to?
2. What is the purpose behind this activity?
3. Why am I doing it in the first place?

Edited Tuesday at 12:16 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

[UnbornTao]

How is your fixation on the outcome making you blind to the process that precedes it--as if the outcome were anything other than the unfolding of the process?

Everything occurs as a process. Our attention, though, tends to be placed on the immediate circumstance and on the desired outcome. This approach is fundamentally ineffective. Rather, focus on the process as a whole. What is it composed of and what is it trying to accomplish?

Seeing the result as another component of the process is more functional than thinking of it as an element that is separate or isolated from the process.

For example, we think of things as of they were fixed--a punch, a pass, a fight, an emotion, a relationship. Yet these are not objects but activities. A "punch" doesn't exist except as a notion and label. In your experience, you don't find a "punch" but an arm moving a certain direction, with certain strength, coming from another body. And we call that whole event a punch.

Edited Friday at 02:48 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Quote

The language of a grown man, to the cosmic powers, sounds like babytalk to men.

Enjoyed reading Fragments by Heraclitus.

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Explore the relationship between the urge to exist as that particular self and the experience of self-contraction. 

Edited Friday at 02:50 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Being honest isn't necessarily antithetical to dealing with others in a sensible, agreeable, gentle manner.

Edited May 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]