Playing with Perspectives

[UnbornTao]

Although his group eventually turned into a cult and he engaged in some controversial behavior, he was also profoundly "awakened" - arguably the closest thing to a modern-day Ramana. If you're not familiar with this kind of "spiritual" content, the whole thing might understandably give off some weird vibes. In any case, you can give it a listen.

 

Edited June 13 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

The more you look, the more you find yourself obstructing the act of looking.

https://wikiquote.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti

Edited June 20 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

Locate in your experience the profound and pressing background urge to believe - in anything at all. Why is it there? What is it based on? What is it like to stand on your own two feet, without any belief whatsoever?

What don't you find in such a bare - and yet more real - experience?

Edited June 20 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

 

[Sugarcoat]

6 minutes ago, UnbornTao said:

 

That’s crazy I’ve been listening to this song recently 

[UnbornTao]

10 minutes ago, Sugarcoat said:

That’s crazy I’ve been listening to this song recently 

Heard it while walking past a beach bar.

[Sugarcoat]

6 minutes ago, UnbornTao said:

Heard it while walking past a beach bar.

That’s the vibe

[Schizophonia]

1 hour ago, Sugarcoat said:

That’s crazy I’ve been listening to this song recently 

I remember this music i listened to it in here and there in high school.

 

[Sugarcoat]

10 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

I remember this music i listened to it in here and there in high school.

 

I did also in the past but then I revisited the song 

[Schizophonia]

19 minutes ago, Sugarcoat said:

I did also in the past but then I revisited the song 

revisited ?

[Sugarcoat]

43 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

revisited ?

It just means ” listened to it again “ stop overthinking 😑

[Schizophonia]

5 minutes ago, Sugarcoat said:

It just means ” listened to it again “ stop overthinking 😑

Gnegne

[UnbornTao]

One reason you look everywhere except within your own experience for growth or understanding is that you assume your perception accurately reflects reality. You take your experience for granted; that is, you believe that the way you experience things is, at its core, "true." 

As examples, notice how it doesn't occur to you to question your experience! Since you've been perceiving objects for a time now, you conclude that you know what they are - intrinsically. You think familiarity is the same as understanding. Or notice that you look for external sources to tell you what emotions like anger or fear are. Questioning the accuracy of your perceptions is often dismissed as a philosophical luxury, an abstract pursuit. Why is that?

If perceiving something isn't the same as truly knowing it, then what is there to comprehend? How could we even approach such an investigation?

So try this: stay with your present experience of fear. Be with it fully. See if you can experience the activity without referring to memory, knowledge, or explanation. What happens then?

Edited Thursday at 05:37 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

How often do you find yourself acting out of self-defensiveness? What is an act not rooted in "re-action"? In other words: What is a response?

[Sugarcoat]

20 hours ago, UnbornTao said:

One reason you look everywhere except within your own experience for growth or understanding is that you assume your perception accurately reflects reality. You take your experience for granted; that is, you believe that the way you experience things is, at its core, "true." 

For example, notice how you perceive objects and immediately conclude that you know what they are, inherently. Or how you rely on external sources to define emotions like anger or fear - accepting those definitions without examining your own lived experience. Questioning the accuracy of your perceptions - or even the act of perception itself - is rare, often dismissed as a philosophical luxury. Why is that?

If perceiving something isn't the same as truly knowing it, then what is there to comprehend? How could we even approach such an investigation?

So try this: the next time you feel fear, don't label it. Don't analyze it. Just be with it fully. See if you can experience that activity and its components - without referring to memory, prior "knowledge," or explanation. What happens then?

It’s hard to know where our mind ends and reality begins … they go so hand in hand 

[UnbornTao]

On 6/24/2025 at 7:47 PM, Sugarcoat said:

It’s hard to know where our mind ends and reality begins … they go so hand in hand 

It might not be absolute, either way. But our thinking may have a primordial role in our experience of reality that we don't recognize.

For example, what's the relationship between what you tell yourself and your internal state? 

Without concept and language - and so this internal dialogue - perhaps no inner turmoil is possible. Observe how your reactions and emotions are related to what you tell yourself.

Edited June 28 by UnbornTao

[Sugarcoat]

21 hours ago, UnbornTao said:

Perhaps what we think does somehow determine our reality, instead of the other way around. It might not be absolute either way. But when it comes to our experience, what we think may have a primordial role that we don't recognize.

It def plays a huge role. And also the mind is more than our internal thoughts, it’s our self image, and perhaps even image of others we have formed views about, about things too

21 hours ago, UnbornTao said:

For example, what's the relationship between what you tell yourself and your internal state? Without concept and language - and so this internal dialogue - perhaps no inner turmoil that comes from this activity is possible. Observe how your reactions and emotions are related to what you tell yourself.

It def goes hand in hand

[UnbornTao]

@Sugarcoat Yes, we could also say that the mind is the "place" where concept - which includes self-image, worldview, and maybe anything else that is non-objective (excluding awareness) - occurs. Perhaps we create reality through our thinking.

Anyway, paying attention to this dynamic as it occurs in one's experience is powerful and real. Here's a week-long exercise for anyone that wants to do it:

Quote

Observe: To what extent does your thinking influence or create what you perceive as reality?

Also: observe, as best as you can, how interpretation and meaning are applied to what you perceive.

 

Edited June 26 by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

If you find that you can't (or rather, won't) stop doing your mental-emotional suffering, particularly minor forms such as annoyance, frustration, or jealousy, go ahead and enjoy it. Join the experience instead of resisting it. Let it be exactly as it is. Want it. Do not act it out nor suppress it. Try it out. 

Doing this experientially should help reduce it - or even dissolve it altogether.

Edited July 6 by UnbornTao

[Sugarcoat]

On 2025-06-26 at 4:26 PM, UnbornTao said:

Yes, we could also say that the mind is the "place" where concept - which includes self-image, worldview, and maybe anything else that is non-objective (excluding awareness) - occurs.

It’s like the mind is those very things we mentioned (self image etc) and also the place where they occur as you say. Not super important difference 
 

On 2025-06-26 at 4:26 PM, UnbornTao said:

@Sugarcoat Perhaps we create reality through our thinking.

Anyway, paying attention to this dynamic as it occurs in one's experience is powerful and real. Here's a week-long exercise for anyone that wants to do it:

Observe: To what extent does your thinking influence or create what you perceive as reality?

Also: observe, as best as you can, how interpretation and meaning are applied to what you perceive.

In my experience paying attention to your mind is a crucial step if your goal is to see through it and dissolve it